Who is this Godse-loving Sakshi Maharaj?

Swami Sachchidanand Hari Sakshi Maharaj, 58, is part swami, part businessman, and full time fundamentalist. He is from Etah in Uttar Pradesh, where he runs the Sachchidanand Ashram on Shikohabad Road. But that is not the only one. He runs two dozen such ashrams in the districts of Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Haridwar, Unnao, Mirzapur, and Mathura. A post graduate in Sanskrit with a doctorate from Vidhyavaaridhi Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri University, Delhi, he also runs more than a dozen degree and intermediate colleges for girls.

He is not a member of the RSS but is in active and regular contact with senior leaders of VHP like Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia. During the Ram Janmabhoomi movement he played a major role in western districts in organising awareness camps for the VHP because he has a large following in these areas especially in Etah, Aligarh, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Unnao, and Kanpur. Like Uma Bharti, he belongs to the backward Lodh community. He is one of the accused in the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya. This case is pending in the CBI court in Lucknow.

He first became an MP in 1991, when he won the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat after joining the BJP. He won it thrice, being close to Lodh leader and BJP leading light Kalyan Singh. He left the BJP in December 1999 when Kalyan Singh quit the party. He rejoined in 2004, again following in the footsteps of Kalyan Singh, but lost from Farrukhabad. In 2009, he contested from Farrukhabad again, representing the Samajwadi Party. He lost, leaving the Samajwadi Party in 2011, and rejoining the BJP in April 2013. BJP asked him to contest from Unnao in 2014 and he defeated Congress MP Anu Tandon in the elections.

The demolition case is not the only one pending against Sakshi Maharaj. He was one of the accused in the murder of senior BJP leader Brahmdutt Diwedi in 1996. Diwedi was from Farrukhabad and Sakshi Maharaj was then MP from this seat. This case is pending in court. In his affidavit filed with the Election Commission, Sakshi Maharaj mentioned a total of eight criminal cases pending against him.

Sakshi Maharaj is also known for his hate speeches. After the formation of the BJP government at the Centre, Sakshi Maharaj called madarsas centres of terrorism in a programme in Kannauj district on September 15. "'There is not a single madarsa in the country where our national flag is being hosted on Independence Day or Republic Day," he said. He also said Hindu schools in the country haven't received any type of government aid but Muslim madarsas had had ample financial help from several governments.

So is it any surprise that he is an admirer of Nathuram Godse?