Prime Minister Narendra Modi may secure yet another victory in Varanasi, his constituency, unchallenged and uncontested. Varanasi goes to polls in the last lap of the on-going Lok Sabha elections, to conclude on Sunday. But embarrassingly for Modi, there is a battle that is being waged in the ancient Gangetic town, not by his political opponents, but by the custodians and keepers of Hinduism, who outright call him “anti-Hindu”.

Modi may have deliberately chosen Varanasi, one of Hinduism’s many dhamas (holy place), as his star constituency, perhaps to conjure the fantasy of his pious and doctrinal religious beliefs. But there seems to be a stiff challenge and objection coming from Hinduism’s most revered and learned seers and mystics against Modi’s brand of divisive Hindutva ideology. Even as Modi talks of sanskriti and dharma, devotion and penance, mixing it with patriotism and nationalism, the sants and mahants are dismissive of Modi’s Hindutva—saying it’s not Hinduism at all. There cannot be a bigger blow to the prime minister—a loyal swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology—than the Hindu theocracy being dismissive and scornful of his Hindutva ideology.

Dr Vishwambhar Nath Mishra

Dr Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, Professor of Electronics at Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), and mahant (head priest) of the 500-year-old Sankat Mochan temple, is contemptuous of Hindutva, saying it has nothing to do with Hinduism or its culture and ethos. Mishra attests to Hinduism’s idea of religiosity and science, and is completely opposed to Hindutva’s idea of monotheism, majoritarian rule and cultural superiority. His Sankat Mochan Foundation has been at the forefront of a movement to clean up the filthy waters of the Ganga. The foundation has been analysing water since 1982, and he believes the water has become more filthy than ever. “The water is filthier since 2014, as nothing has been done to stop the untreated sewage flowing into the Ganga.”

He also looks with horror at Modi’s controversial Vishwanath corridor, an ill-considered project which has destroyed hundreds of ancient, small temples that defined Varanasi’s antiquity. The mahant says, “The place now resembles the ruins of Syria.”

Mishra also carries on the tradition of the Sankat Mochan music festival, where musicians and dancers from across religions perform to a packed audience in the temple courtyard, till the early hours of the morning. The festival was mired in controversy when Ghulam Ali from Pakistan wanted to perform. Mishra was determined to let him, as he said, “Ghulam Ali wanted to sing for Hanuman, who am I to stop him.”

If Mishra were to take on Modi in Varanasi, he would have not only challenged the prime minister as to who was the “real” Hindu, but would have also taken the wind out of the sails of the RSS-BJP-Modi’s Hindutva agenda of fanaticism, supremacy and strife.

Mishra says he was open to the idea of contesting against Modi as it would have finally revealed who was the “asli” and “nakli” Hindu. But while the Opposition Congress toyed with the idea initially, it abruptly gave it up—giving no reasons. Mishra believes “the Congress leadership was not serious about the election in Varanasi, and has simply walked away.”

The politically-astute mahant says he would have got half, if not more of the star candidate’s votes. “The upper castes would have come to me because I’m a Brahmin too, and they are increasingly fed up with the BJP. It would have also thrown off the RSS-BJP on who to support, after all, I am the mahant of one of the most important temples in Benaras,” he said. The “mufti saab” of Benaras, says Mishra, also backed him whole-heartedly, and a mere call from the mahant to the Hindus in Varanasi would have had them flocking to the party that would have nominated him. It would have sent shock waves had Mishra contested against Modi—and reducing Modi’s vote share would have been a victory by itself.

Excerpts from the interview below:

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Swami Avimukteshwaranand

Swami Avimukteshwaranand, who represents Jyotish Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati in Varanasi, and heads the prominent Vidya Math in the city, is unreservedly vocal when he calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Aurangzeb”. Dressed up in his usual ochre robes, with vermilion smeared on his forehead and arms, and a rudraksha mala dangling down his chest, the Swami says, “I will say it now and for another 1,000 years that Modi will be known as Aurangzeb.”

He has been angered by the Modi government’s insistence on smashing temples for its “ridiculous” beautification plan of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, even as it “falsely” claims to be the custodian of Hinduism. “It is outrageous that the BJP, which was birthed on the premise of building a Ram Temple, is now demolishing temples that are as old as Hinduism in this holy city. Modi and the BJP are anti-Hindu. They are enemies of Hinduism, even as they do politics in the name of Hinduism.”

He was distressed after the death of Swami Sanand, who died fasting to save the Ganga, and accused the “so-called saviours of the Ganga”—from Modi to the RSS to the entire Hindutva sangh—of being insensitive to the call of the Ganga. He opposes the RSS-BJP idea of Hinduism as nationalism. It is a religion, he insists.

It must be said that the Swami has backed the Ram Rajya Parishad’s decision to put up candidates to fight the BJP, and he is equally enraged that a “pliant” Election Commission has rejected the nomination of the Parishad’s candidate in Varanasi.

The Swami had led a dharna against the Election Commission for rejecting the Parishad’s nominee, Sri Bhagwan, for not filling all the columns in the nomination papers. He says, “I am taking this fight to the Supreme Court and will ask for the cancellation of Modi’s candidature as he has not filled all the columns in the papers either.”  There are 102 nominations filed in the Varanasi constituency, and many are said to be the Swami’s dummy candidates.

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Sant Vivek Das Acharya

Sant Vivek Das Acharya, head of the Kabir Chaura Math in the heart of Varanasi, has been a vocal critic of Modi since 2014, when the PM first came here to file his nomination. He had criticised Modi saying that by contesting from a “sacred place” his Hindutva politics would break the centuries-old unity between Hindus and Muslims.

Sitting in his cool, wide verandah today, in a cotton dhoti and khadi vest, Das explains that though it was widely believed that Kabir represented the syncretism of Hinduism and Islam, he was actually critical of both religions, and his firm belief was that god was found in the path of righteousness. “But Modi and RSS-BJP want to artificially make Varanasi a centre of Hindu religion only, but Kabir’s legacy (the mystic-saint was born here) is humanism; his teachings are brought to the people through the panths or communities and spread through songs and poetry that he wrote. We don’t believe in the tag of Hindu,” he said. The Kabir panthis (followers) are naturally not inclined towards Hindutva political parties.

After Modi came to power, he made overtures to the Math when he went to Magahar (now called Sant Kabir Nagar) to commemorate the year-long birth anniversary celebrations. However, Modi was seen to be taking sides after an unseemly battle ensued between Vivek Das, and Vichar Das, the head of the Magahar Math. The latter seems to have the sympathy of the local BJP MP. Allegations of selling math property, attempts by the BJP to control the math were flying thick and fast. However, the prime minister pledged to set up a research library, a Sant Kabir academy, hostel and art gallery.

“I have always said the problem with Hindutva—why make cows your dharma (holy), when cow yagnas (sacrifices) happened in ancient times,” asks Vivek Das. “In the Ganges, people eat, drink and shit; in Ram Rajya, you have people warring and fighting; you say Hindus khatre mein hain (are in danger) because of the earlier Muslim rule, tribal belts are now issai ke adde (den of Christian missionaries), Dalits are untouchables; who have they not given gaalis (swears) to?” he asks.

Now that Modi has sanctioned ₹25 crore for the academy etc, will he be more amenable to the BJP? Vivek Das retorts, “Hamare dil kamzore nahin hai (we are not weak).” He recites a Kabir couplet:

In the song of love,

Be truthful to who you are,

Be agreeable to everyone,

But stay firm where you are.

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Chandramauli Upadhyay

Famed astrologer Chandramauli Upadhyay, soothsayer to Bollywood stars like the Bachchans, and Sanjay Khan, says there is absolutely no threat to Hinduism, but differences between religions are slowly but surely creeping in, in the present political climate. Sitting in his study packed with pictures of Hindu icons, adornments and baubles, Upadhyay says, “Hinduism is a way of life, there are religious beliefs too, but it does not teach you to fight with other religions, or belittle them, we should have no problems with other religions.”

Upadhyay blames outsiders for changing Hinduism, making it aggressive and warns, one must be strong to withstand the onslaught. He, however, blames the Congress rather than the BJP for the crisis Hinduism is facing today. “Had the Congress not walked away, the Babri Masjid would not have fallen in 1992,” says Upadhyay. He added: “There’s no one to challenge the threat to Hinduism. But it was also the last time Benaras witnessed riots in the city.”

He recalls the time when he could take Bollywood actor Sanjay Khan to Sankat Mochan without any controversy—he had fixed the actor’s astrological chart to make his serial Tipu Sultan a mega success.  

As head of Banaras Hindu University’s astrological department—a government job—all Upadhyay will say is that interactions between Hindus and Muslims is far less today than before, and that leads to an air of mutual suspicion. “It must be rectified.”