GODMEN, SHAMANS & CLERICS

From novice imams to suave dynasts to voodoo shamans to self-styled mahants, the whole gamut is on show in the House

MOHIBBULLAH NADVI, 48

| SAMAJWADI PARTY| Rampur, UP

Call him the Muslim card who outfoxed the Muslim high roller-in a manner of speaking. The imam from Delhi, Nadvi was the 'outsider' fielded by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav against the wishes of local biggie Azam Khan. Nadvi managed to mine his native roots-he was born in a Rampur village and his clerical cachet to pull off a win. Muslim MPs often went to the mosque where he has been imam since 2005, near Parliament, for namaaz. Now, Nadvi has made the reverse journey.

SATPAL BRAHMACHARI, 60

| CONGRESS | Sonipat, Haryana

He made heads turn when he got a ticket, and again when he won. The last two times, the BJP had staged a successful siege on the Jats at Sonipat with the entire non-Jat phalanx, felling even ex-CM Bhupinder Hooda in 2019. The Brahmin mahant-with two ashrams in Haridwar, two in Jind, including one at ancestral village Gangoli-became the GOP's divine recourse. Hooda reckoned that Brahmachari, back home after two futile bids on the Uttarakhand assembly, would pull in enough local devouts. Add the tailwind of Jat consolidation, and the mantra worked.

MIAN ALTAF AHMAD LARVI, 66

| NATIONAL CONFERENCE | Anantnag-Rajouri, J&K