INSIDE STORY: Once a low-profile godman, Shobhan Sarkar now has the ear of the country's politicians


A section of modern historians talk about the myth that some sadhus had taken refuge in the Himalayas and used to believe that they were controlling the freedom movement of India by their spiritual power.

It goes without saying that there were some leaders of the time who promoted this theory. But even though we live in the 21st century and the Congress party wouldn't have moved ahead of this strange theory if Daundia Khera had not happened.

Shobhan Sarkar alias Suryabhan Tiwari, a lesser known god-man from the Shobhan village in Shivali area of Kanpur, saw in his dream, or more precisely fantasised one day in September this year that there was a gold reserve worth 1000 tonnes buried under the palace of Rao Ram Baksh Singh, a 19th century chieftain in Unnao's Daundia Khera.

His outspoken disciple Om Jee alias Om Awasthi, who was in touch with union minister of state for agriculture and food processing Charan Das Mahant, met Sarkar in his ashram on September 22 and October 7.

Mesmerised by the spiritual aura of Sarkar - the dreamer, Mahant later confessed to the media that he immediately discussed the matter with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other senior members in the Central Government and an order was issued to excavate the site.

Those who know Mahant from his home state Chhattisgarh, allege that he is known for hiring black-magic practitioners to achieve success in politics.

The Congress backed the dreamer who, during a conversation with Mail Today on October 14, said: "It was the blood of my gurus which turned into gold. The blood drops had fallen on the earth when the mosquitoes had bitten my gurus."

But he also added in the same breath that the treasure belonged to Baksh Singh.

"He comes to my dreams on a white horse and requests me to liberate him from the cycle of birth and death. He is the custodian of the treasure. But he is tired of protecting it. He wants me to ask the Government of India to take it and improve the economy of the country", he continued.

But the seer had also put two conditions before the government.

"Don't touch the gold before I allow. And at least 20 percent of the treasure should be spent on the development of Daundia Khera", he said.

Prediction: Sarkar has asked the PM to deploy modern machines and resume the digging at Daundia Kheda

The Congress-led UPA was so desirous of "collecting the gold" that the Geological Survey of India (GSI) visited the site on October 12, conducted Ground Radar Penetration Survey and concluded on October 15 that there was non-magnetic metallic substance beneath the earth.

Consequently, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) did its survey and P K Mishra, head of ASI in UP, announced the excavation on October 18.

Meanwhile, Sarkar told a TV channel that he was happy with Mahant and would soon make him chief minister of Chhattisgarh.

Although the Congress chief of Chhattisgarh, Mahant came to limelight in July this year when he expressed his wish to become a sweeper at the door of Sonia Gandhi.

He told the media in Raipur on December 8 that he was ready to become the chief minister of Chhattisgarh with the blessings of his highcommand.

However, as the scene changed and Raman Singh led BJP won majority seats, Mahant said: "It's tough to digest the defeat of the Congress."

While the Congress presently licking its wound after a humiliating defeat in the Assembly Elections in four states, Sarkar is facing huge trust deficit among his followers.

But he has not given up. While a huge yagya was started at his ashram in Shobhan on Sunday to attract his believers once again, Rajendra Tiwari, his media-incharge has been camping in Delhi for two days to re-convince the senior Congress leaders to deploy JCB machines and "collect the treasure."

"I will hand over to the PM a letter from Sarkar who has asked to deploy modern machines and dig up the gold in a day. Sarkar will bear the expenses", Tiwari said.



Persistent hopes and troubled officials



Although the Great Tamasha of Daundia Khera, which continued from October 18 to November 15, is over, the villagers are still gearing up to seek time from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and request them to trust Shobhan Sarkar's dream and deploy some other agency to dig the earth.



"The village panchayat held a meeting on December 21 in which a resolution to this effect was passed. We want the Indian School of Mine, Dhanbad to dig the earth with the help of modern and big equipment. Sarkar is a spiritual guru who should be trusted", said Ajay Pal, husband of village chief Sheela Singh.



Friends in high places: Union minister of state for agriculture and food processing Charan Das Mahant, met Sarkar in his ashram

The ASI had made four blocks for excavation. But while two blocks of five feet width were dug up to five metres, the other two were left untouched.



ASI had found some broken bangles and lakhauri bricks, and nothing of archaeological importance.



An ASI officer, who didn't want to be named, said: "We don't know about Sarkar but the ASI has lost trust because of the political decision of our seniors in New Delhi, who decided to excavate just because some ministers believed in the dream of a seer.



"This is the first time in the history of the world that a seer was taken so seriously that the entire government machinery started dancing to his tune."



Suryabhan A.K.A Shobhan Sarkar

Although 65-year-old Shobhan Sarkar is a sadhu, who claims that he can see beyond the sky and beneath the earth, his actual power lies in social work.

Born in Kanpur's Shuklanpurwa in the house of Kailash Narayan Tiwari, he was named Suryabhan.

Heavily into spiritual activities, he left school and took diksha from many gurus of the area including Swami Raghunandan Das, who named him Viraktanandji Maharaj.

He was also known as Bhaskar Das and Anand Deo. Thereafter, he cleaned some forest land in Shobhan village, built a hut and began a solitary life.

Inhabitants of the area gradually started offering him food grains and materials. As the wealth of the ashram increased, he developed an irrigation system of his own and presently provides water to the agricultural fields of over 200 villages in the area.

In 2004, he created a flutter by announcing that he would construct a bridge over the river Ganga to connect Kanpur and Unnao.

The then Mulayam Singh Yadav government sprung into action and constructed the bridge. It is said that since then, the younger brother of Mulayam and PWD minister Shivpal Singh Yadav are close to him and often pay a visit to his ashram for his blessings.

But sources close to Sarkar claim that he is a close friend of many Congress leaders since late Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi's time.

However 55-year-old media savvy Om Jee Baba alias Om Awasthi, who has become the ear and eye of Sarkar in the last three to four years, has been in the cadre of the Congress.

The biggest critic of Bharatiya Janata Party's PM nominee Narendra Modi, whom he dubs as "a traitor against humanity", Awasthi, a graduate in Arts, was appointed as general secretary of Meerut District Youth Congress some 25 years ago.

But when Om Jee started attacking Modi personally a few days before his Kanpur rally on October 19, the state president of the BJP Laxmi Kant Bajpai came out saying that he was a Congressman on a mission to tarnish the image of his party's PM nominee.

Behaving like a mature politician, Om Jee appeared before newspersons and confessed: "Yes I was a Congress cadre. And I don't support the ideology of BJP, which wants to divide the country on religious lines."

But he has yet to reply to the allegations of the people of Ainchwara area of Chitrakoot where he has constructed an ashram on 50 acres by fraudulently grabbing the land of the villagers.