Satpal Maharaj

Satpal Singh Rawat (born 21 September 1951), also known as Bal Bhagwan Ji, Satpal Maharaj, is a member of the lower house of the Parliament of India (15th Lok Sabha) for the Indian National Congress party.^[1]

He is a founder of the Manav Utthan Seva Samiti, an off-shoot of the Divine Light Mission.

Family

Satpal Maharaj was born in Kankhal.Satpal's father Hans Ji Maharaj had two wives, Sinduri Devi and Rajeshwari Devi.He had a daughter from his first wife Sinduri Devi, and four sons(Prem,Satpal,Bhole and Raja ^[2] ) from his second wife Rajeshwari Devi. Satpal Maharaj is the eldest son of Late Hans Ji Maharaj and his wife Rajeshwari Devi. He married to Amrita Rawat, who is also a member of State Assembly, Uttrakhand, on 8 February 1981.^[3] He has two sons, Vibhu Ji, and Suyesh Ji. As a part of their traditional history, the family often delivers discourses at gatherings (Sammelans) where people touch their feet and offer money in return at these gatherings.

Satpal Maharaj was educated at St. George's College, Mussoorie.

in 1974 Satpal split from his brother Prem Rawat.^[2]

In 2009 Satpal Maharaj split from his other brother "Bhole Ji Maharaj", who started his own organization.^[4]

In October 2012, Satpal though projecting himself as a saint, spent crores of rupees on his son's marriage.Around 400 gas cylinders and electricity worth crores was used during the lavish wedding.^[5]

Divine Light Mission

The Divine Light Mission (DLM) (Divya Sandesh Parishad) was an organization founded in 1960 by Satpal Maharaj's father, guru Shri Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the West under the leadership of his fourth and youngest son, Guru Maharaj Ji Prem Rawat.

During the customary 13 days of mourning following Shri Hans's death, the succession was discussed by DLM officials. The youngest son, 8-year-old Prem Rawat, addressed the crowd and was accepted by them, as well as by his mother and brothers, as the "Perfect Master". Though Prem Rawat was officially the leader of the DLM, because of his youth authority was shared by the whole family.

For the next eight years Hans Ji Maharaj's family supported Prem Rawat as his successor but the latter's decision to marry a Westerner in 1974 precipitated a struggle for control of DLM. Mata Ji returned to India and appointed her oldest son Satpal as the new head of DLM India, claiming that Prem Rawat had broken his spiritual discipline by marrying a foreigner. The Western premies remained loyal to Prem Rawat, but the marriage led to a permanent rift within the family and was also credited with causing a profound disruption in the movement.

After the split, Satpal became the new head of the organization in India fowllowing a legal battle with his brother Prem Rawat.

The self-published history of the Manav Utthan Seva Samiti though reports a smooth transition and succession from his father, and omits any mention of the scandal around the family feud that split the movement.^[6]

Legal Battle for DLM

Satpal Maharaj, who was earlier known as Bal Bhagwan Ji fought a legal battle against his brother Prem Rawat.In 1975 Prem Rawat returned to India in an attempt to gain control of the Indian DLM. A court-ordered settlement resulted in his eldest brother Satpal retaining control of the Indian DLM, while Prem Rawat maintained control of the DLM outside of India. During one of the hearings in the court,the judge Prithan Singh Safeer said "Courts should not be utilized for washing this dirty linen,".^{[7] [8]}

The brothers' web sites, Satpal's Manav Dharam and any of Prem Rawat many sites do not mention each other. Rawat's mother announced her deposing of her youngest son on April 1, 1975 but the family split had already been announced to the Divine Light Mission Western premies, sort of, nearly a year before on May 9, 1974.^[9]

Manav Utthan Seva Samiti

Today, Maharaj is the head of the Manav Utthan Seva Samiti.^[10] He teaches the meditation techniques called "Knowledge".^[10] The movement has students and ashrmas all across the globe with its head office in India. It claims millions of members and has events that regularly draw 100,000 people or more to its ashrams in Haridwar and New Delhi.^[10] According to Lise McKean in the book Divine Enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement, in the Samiti cult of the holy family, Maharaj, his wife Amrita Rawat and their two sons are worshiped as divine beings, with individual members of the holy family held to represent diverse aspects of divinity.

The MUSS has an associated volunteer organisation, the Manav Sewa Dal, founded by Maharaj in 1976.^[11][12]

in May 2011, an employee working with Maharaj Ji for 25 years stole and ran away with valuables.^[13]

Lok Sabha Results

1989 - Lost Pauri Garhwal against Chandra Mohan (Janata Dal)

1991 - Lost Pauri Garhwal against Bhuwan Chand (BJP)

1996 - Won Pauri Garhwal (1,63,528 votes) against Shri Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri(BJP) (1,48,508 votes).

1998 - Lost Pauri Garhwal (1,05,311 votes) against (Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri( 2,80,258 votes)

1999 - Lost Pauri Garhwal (2,10,063 votes) against (Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri( 2,39,745 votes)

2004 - Lost Pauri Garhwal

2008(By elections) : Lost Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha to TPS Rawat(BJP) when Khanduri quit his Parliamentary seat to enter the state Assembly.

2009 - Won Pauri Garhwal Seat(236949 votes) against Tejpal Singh Rawat(219552 votes)

Political career

In 1989, Satpal Maharaj started his political career in as a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) party.

In 1995, he split from the Congress along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari and joined Congress (Tiwari).

He served as Union Minister for Railroads in 1996 and for Finance in 1997.

1n 1999, rejoined Congress when Sonia Gandhi took over the reins of the Congress Party.

In 2010, he was the head of the 20-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.^[14]

in 2012, being close to Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Satpal was nominated by his political party to pacify Narayan Dutt Tiwari, who had threatened to work against the party during the 2012 election. They believed that by nominating Satpal, as well as three other followers of Tiwari, that Tiwari would not follow through on his threats.^[15] Narayan Dutt then campaigned for Satpal and his wife Amrita in 2012 elections^[16]

After the 2012 elections, there was infighting within the Uttarakhand Congress and Harish Rawat hit back at Satpal Maharaj and said Satpal Maharaj should feel happy that he lost the race of Chief Ministership of the state.^[17] Vijay Bahuguna was made the chief minister after all the infighting ended.^[18]

In June 2013, a large number of pilgrims were killed due to heavy rains and flash floods.Satpal Maharaj was the Member of parliament from this region. His wife was the tourism minister when the tragedy occurred.Crucial warnings from metdepartment before the tragedy were ignored.^[19]

Notes

References

• Downton, James V. (1979). Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04198-5. 
• Mangalwadi, Vishal (1992). The World of Gurus. Chicago, Ill.: Cornerstone. ISBN 0-940895-03-X 9780940895034 Check |isbn= value (help). 
• McKean, Lise (1996). Divine Enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-56009-0. 
• Moritz, Charles, ed. (1974). "Maharaj Ji, Guru". Current Biography Yearbook: 1974. H. W. Wilson Company. p. 254. 

External links

• Prem Rawat
• Manav Dharam
• Shri Satpal ji Maharaj
• Shri Satpal Maharaj Profile