Bhopal: In a move that may raise several eyebrows, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has accorded Minister of State (MoS) status to five babas associated with Narmada river awareness committee.

Narmadanand, Hariharanand, Computer Baba, Bhayyuji Maharaj and Yogendra Mahant were appointed to a committee set up for the conservation of the Narmada on March 31. Three days later, they were granted the special status.

As members of the committee, they have been given the MoS status, a General Administration Department official said. The MoS status brings in monthly allowance of Rs 7,500 each and various perks to these saints.

Among the five Hindu religious leaders, Computer Baba and Yogendra Mahant had earlier announced to take out a rally against ‘Narmada plantation scam’ during a meeting in Indore. They had also decided to stage dharna at state secretariat.

As Assembly elections are due in the state this year, the main opposition Congress dubbed the decision as an attempt by the BJP to exploit the respect these religious leaders enjoy in the society.

"It's a gimmick to score political points. This is also an effort by the chief minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) to wash off his sins. He ignored conservation of the Narmada. These saints should inspect where the state government has planted six crore saplings (along the river banks) as claimed by the CM," said Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi.

Meanwhile, Congress AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh is busy in his Narmada Parikrama these days and is scheduled to complete his ‘spiritual and apolitical’ journey on April 9 in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

Defending the state government’s decision, Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said the opposition party dislikes anything related to saints.