Who Was Chandraswami- The Godman With Political Clout?

It was Summers, 1975. Through the lawns of House of Commons in London, a white silk-clad man sporting red tilak and a rudrakhsha was approaching office of the leader of Conservative party- Margaret Thatcher. He was given just 10 minutes. However, the man with long hair and beard was reluctant. He gave Thatcher five white papers and asked to write questions. And then he predicted all of the questions rightly.

The leader was amazed. She wanted to know more. The man told him to meet him in three days at the Deputy High Commissioner’s office wearing a red dress and tying a talisman on her left arm. The leader followed. And the next day he predicted that she would become the Prime Minister of England in four years and would be there in office for nine, eleven or thirteen years. Thatcher became the PM within four years and stayed in office for 11 years.

This is one of the many stories about the controversial Godman Chandraswami who rose to fame in 1980s and dominated the global and Indian political scenario for more than two decades. Not only Thatcher, but the list of his celebrity devotees also included former PM Narasimha Rao, the Sultan of Brunei, actress Elizabeth Taylor, Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, Tiny Rowland, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the al Fayed brothers of Harrods and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Marred in controversy including the charges of conspiring to kill former PM Rajeev Gandhi, Chandraswami became that Godman whose feat could hardly be achieved by any of the later day Gurus.

Born in 1948 at a village in Rajasthan to a money-lender family as Nemi Chand Jain, he shifted his base to Hyderabad. He through started his career as an astrologer, with the time he became a mind-reader and a tantric. It was in later 1970s when he started influencing politicians and none other than Jayaprakash Narayan became his follower. However, it was during the tenure of P V Narasimha Rao, he became invincible and founded his Ashram in the National Capital.

One instance during Rao’s time makes his importance further clear. In 1995, Rajesh Pilot, then the Home Minister asked the CBI to arrest the Godman for both his involvement in the Jain Hawala case where it was alleged that he was the conduit to send the payment to the PM, and for allegedly sheltering don Dawood Ibrahim. As CBI informed Pilot that they needed more evidence to arrest him, Pilot wrote a letter to CBI saying, “Let me see if after this letter they still ask for proof.”

Perhaps Pilot knew what was waiting for him. You can’t meddle with someone who seems to be the closest man of the Prime Minister. Within days, Rao reshuffled the cabinet and Pilot was expectedly removed from the Home Ministry and was shifted to Environment Ministry. In this context, either Pilot could become another V P Singh taking up the mantle and fighting hard to become the PM or could become Arjun Singh who went to political oblivion after his fight with Rao. But Pilot could become none.

So, the power of a Godman for whom the Prime Minister can reshuffle his cabinet is understandable. However, Congress party leaders and mostly Gandhi family didn’t take Chandraswami's relation with Rao lightly. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, it was alleged that he helped LTTE with his contacts to transfer funds and was part of the international conspiracy. Milap Chand Jain Commission that was investigating the death of the former PM, in its 1998 report published a chapter on the ‘Kali worshipper’. In 1996, he was also arrested for duping a London-based businessman Lakhubhai Pathak, known as pickle-king. In 2011, he was slapped with FERA, and the apex court slapped him with a fine of Rs 9 Crores.

However, his political clout declined after Rao lost power. In 2017, when this Godman died, there were only reminiscence of his powerful days. But he died in silence. Hardly any political leaders came. Did he fail to predict his own future?