Newsmaker | Who is Mahant Raju Das, the Ayodhya priest who argued with District Magistrate over BJP’s poll defeat?

A priest of Ayodhya’s Hanuman Garhi Temple, Mahant Raju Das, has often been in the news for his statements on religious matters and political incidents that tend to spark rows. This time, it is over an argument with Ayodhya’s District Magistrate Nitish Kumar on Friday night.

A police security gunner provided to Das was withdrawn on Saturday after his argument with Kumar over the BJP’s electoral defeat in the Faizabad parliamentary constituency of which the temple town is a part. The priest showed up at a review meeting called by UP Cabinet ministers Surya Pratap Shahi and Jaiveer Singh and blamed the district administration’s recent actions for the BJP’s defeat.

Mahant Das said he met UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday to discuss the row. “I met the CM and briefed him about what happened on Friday. I have all faith in Yogi Adityanath and his justice,” he told The Indian Express.

Asked about the controversies he often finds himself in, Mahant Das said, “I do not only make statements but mean them as well. I am a warrior of Sanatan Dharma and Hinduism and have the responsibility to protect it as well. If someone attacks our religion I won’t keep silent and will certainly retaliate … Like, Swami Prasad Maurya’s objectionable comments on Ramcharitmanas. After the holy book was torn and burnt, I retaliated and made my stand clear.”

He was referring to the time in January 2023 when he placed a Rs 21-lakh bounty on Maurya’s head for the comments. The following month, both their supporters were involved in a scuffle in a Lucknow hotel where a television news channel organised an event to which they had been invited. Earlier, Mahant Das also made the news over his comments on actor Swara Bhaskar and former tennis player