Who is Baba Balaknath, the potential CM candidate known as 'Rajasthan's Yogi'

The Bharatiya Janata Party ousted the Congress from power in Rajasthan, winning 115 out of 199 seats that had gone to polls in the desert state. After the saffron win, now the BJP has expedited its efforts to pick the new chief minister.

The BJP had contested the election without naming a chief ministerial face. Several names have been doing the rounds for the top job. Amid endless buzz in the political circles about the next CM, Alwar MP Baba Balaknath has gained a lot of attention leading many to speculate that he could be picked by the high command to lead the state.

Who is Baba Balak Nath?

Baba Balak Nath, the Lok Sabha MP from Alwar is the head of the Baba Mastnath Math in Rohtak. He was BJP's candidate for assembly elections from the Tijara assembly constituency. Known as ‘Rajasthan ka Yogi’ Balaknath is the eighth ‘mahant’ (chief priest in a monastery) of Baba Mast Nath Math.

He won from his constituency by a significant margin of 6,173 votes defeating the Congress candidate Imran Khan. Balaknath's parents Subhash Yadav and Urmila Devi were devout followers of Baba Mast Nath Dera who vowed to dedicate their first child to his service. In 2016, Balaknath was declared as the successor of the religious guru Baba Mast Nath Dera and the head of the Math.

Commenting over his and the saffron party's victory in the assembly polls Balaknath had said, “It is all because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance. The BJP got all the votes in his name.” Speaking about Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath earlier Balaknath said that the former was like a ‘big brother’ to him.

He has also praised chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his ‘bulldozer raj’ earlier. However, on being asked who is going to be the chief minister of Rajasthan, Balaknath evaded a direct reply and said, "Aap sab ki kripa hai… I have dedicated my life to public service. I am serving the party. I am engaged in serving people."

(With inputs from agencies)