He holds a doctorate from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on the concept of 'moksha' (salvation) in Virshaivism and Shavaite philosophy in Kashmir, calls himself a "talking God," and is the only religious figure being fielded by a national party in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha polls.
However, despite his strong religious credentials, Jaisiddheshwar Shivacharya Mahaswami, the BJP's candidate from Solapur, is being opposed by sections of his own Lingayat community, with a powerful group claiming religious figures must not enter electoral politics.
The pontiff of the Gaudegaon math in Solapur's Akkalkot — a 63-year old — will take on former union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde of the Congress and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar from the textile town located around 400km from Mumbai.
"Maharaj also has a math at Shelgi in Solapur city and controls educational institutions. He has devotees across Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, and is fluent in Hindi, Marathi, English, and Kannada," said a devotee Krishna Hiremath. He added that Mahaswami had an outreach across communities, gave discourses on the Quran and decided to join active politics when his followers urged him to.
BJP leader and Solapur guardian minister Vijaykumar Deshmukh said they had insisted on the seer contesting as a BJP nominee considering his "social work." "We requested him to contest even in 2014, but he refused," said Deshmukh, who is a Lingayat.
Lingayats, the followers of 12th century saint-reformer Basaveshwara, form a substantial chunk of the over 18.20 lakh electorate in the constituency reserved for the scheduled castes (SC) along with other groups like Padmashalis (Telugu-speaking weavers), Marathas, Dhangars, Muslims, and Dalits.
Although the Mahaswami's choice seems formidable—he replaced incumbent BJP MP Sharad Bansode — sections from the community have opposed his candidature.
Video clips of the Mahaswami calling himself a "talking god" have also raised hackles. "Go to Tuljapur, Pandharpur or anywhere else. You will not find God (there), nor will he talk. I am the talking God," the pontiff is heard saying.
"Swamis must not enter politics and restrict themselves to religious matters as they have followers across parties. Their political foray will lead to charges being levelled at them and lower the community's dignity," said Vijaykumar Hatture, general secretary, Lingayat Samanway Samiti.
Hatture added that a 'Lingayat Dharma Vichar Manthan Parishad,' had opposed Mahaswami's candidature and said the pontiff did not agree with Lingayats being a separate religion. He said it was inappropriate for Mahaswami to capitalise on his caste — Beda Jangam, which is included in the SC category—when he was revered by all Lingayats.
"Dharmagurus are revered. It is inappropriate for them to fold their hands before people for votes," said Manohar Dhonde of the Shiva Veershaiva Yuvak Sanghatana. He added that the BJP had nominated the Lingayat leader to overcome anger in the community over the Solapur University being named after Maratha-era warrior-queen Ahilyadevi Holkar, who belonged to the Dhangar community, rather than Shivayogi Siddharameshwar, who is revered by Lingayats.
However, co-operation minister Subhash Deshmukh said the "talking god" statement was meant to urge people to vote rather than leave on a pilgrimage on voting day. "There are no restrictions on anyone joining politics. This is also a form of national service," he added.
Profile
Shivacharyaratna Dr Jaysiddheshwar Shivacharya Mahaswami was born on June 1, 1955 to Rudramma and Gurubasayya Hiremath and completed his SSC from the Pune board and B.A, M.A and PhD from Banaras Hindu University. He started the Shri Gurusiddheshwar Kalyan Kendra Trust in 1989 and Shri Jagadguru Panchacharya school at Gaudegaon in 1991.
