Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan greets Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati with folded hands. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan greets Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati with folded hands.

Besides a large number of followers, what gives self-styled godmen extra clout is their nexus with powerful politicians who make a beeline to their ashrams seeking "divine intervention". Madhya Pradesh, of late, has turned out to be a haven for the babas who often flout laws to build their business empire.They preach to millions, acquire immense wealth and build ashrams with the help of leaders and bureaucrats. And political patronage, to some extent, has helped several bogus godmen to grow their business of "spirituality".Some of the prominent followers who seek blessings of such babas include Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, his Cabinet colleagues and several top bureaucrats of the state. Soon after the conclusion of Assembly polls on November 25, Chouhan and his wife Sadhana Singh had sought blessings of Sant Shri Rawatpura Sarkar - an influential religious leader who enjoys a special status under the BJP rule.Rawatpura has ashrams in Raipur, Chitrakoot and Hardwar too. He runs at least a dozen educational institutions in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and has registered himself as an 'A-type' contractor in the public works department (PWD) of Madhya Pradesh.Congress legislator from Bhind Govind Singh says Rawatpura's commercial activities have the BJP-led state government's blessings. "Rawatpura is not a holy man. He is a businessman who is well connected with several ministers and BJP leaders. The institutions run by him should be probed," Singh told Mail Today.Several other godmen enjoy political patronage in the state. The followers of Sant Sadhvi Maa Kankeshwari Devi include CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, housing and environment minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and BJP MLA Vishwas Sarang.'Model' godman Uday Singh Deshmukh aka Bhaiyyu Maharaja - popularly known as Bhaiyyu Dada - is a 'good-looking' baba. Deshmukh started his career as a model but gave it up to become a spiritual leader. Born in Madhya Pradesh's Shujalpur city, Deshmukh has many high-profile followers. In 2012, former President Pratibha Patil had visited his ashram in Vijaynagar.His followers include many influential leaders like Union Minister for Heavy Industries Praful Patel, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, BJP leader Gopinath Munde and senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi.Many godmen in Madhya Pradesh face serious criminal charges ranging from land grabbing to rape.Chairman of Maharishi Vidya Mandir School Group Girish Chandra Verma, who runs a chain of schools across India, has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman teacher. Verma, who is facing rape charges, has been sent to judicial custody till January 15. Lal Bulchandani, popularly known as Shri Lal Sai, has a massive following in and around Bhopal. In 2008, Sai was accused of raping an engineering student at his ashram but was later acquitted.However, several other selfproclaimed gurus are not wary of the law of the land. Disciples of Dwarka Sharda Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati have proved it by constructing a permanent boundary wall around the Sakal Ghat cave and an entrance gate and a temple in a forest reserve that falls under the Barman Range, Narsingpur district. As per the law, no permanent structure can be built in a forest reserve area.His list of followers: President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The cosy nexus seems to be working well for both netas and gurus. It could be a fair exchange - money and votes in return for protection and cover-ups - that bring them closer to each other.