Computer Baba Computer Baba

THE CONGRESS government in Madhya Pradesh has appointed Namdev Tyagi aka Computer Baba as the chairman of Ma Narmada, Ma Kshipra evam Ma Mandakini River Trust.

The controversial seer was accorded the minister of state status by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in April 2018 but he resigned in October and campaigned against the BJP in the assembly elections, accusing it of being irreligious. He even campaigned against Chouhan in Budhni constituency.

While in the Opposition, the Congress had slammed the BJP government’s decision to accord MoS status on Computer Baba and four other spiritual and religious functionaries. The latest order dated March 8 appointing him as the trust chairman is silent on the status he will enjoy or the facilities he will get to carry out his new responsibility. The order issued by the spiritual department created by the new government became public only on Sunday.

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“The model code of conduct was to kick in. The rest (facilities and status) will be done later. They have done a clever thing by making the appointment (in the nick of time),” he told The Indian Express when asked for his reaction to the appointment shorn of any ministerial status.

He said his priority will be to stop illegal mining in the Narmada and to keep the three rivers clean by forming committees of people who live on the banks.

“I quit because the previous government did nothing to stop illegal mining. The new government has entrusted me to stop the illegal practice so I have accepted it,” he said. He insisted he is not a politician and just a seer devoted to the cause of the Narmada.

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