BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari Booked for Alleged Forcible Entry into Deoghar Temple’s Inner Shrine

Jharkhand Police have registered a case against BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Manoj Tiwari, and others for allegedly forcing their way into the sanctum sanctorum of Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar on August 2, in violation of restrictions during the holy month of ‘Shravan’.

According to the FIR, filed on August 7 under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita based on a complaint by temple priest Kartik Nath Thakur, the leaders entered the shrine between 8:45 and 9:00 p.m., despite a ban on VIP access during peak pilgrimage. The complaint alleges their actions sparked fear and panic among thousands of devotees, creating a stampede-like situation, and included a scuffle with police deployed for security.

Police said the MPs also disrupted the ‘kancha jal puja’ ritual underway at the time. During ‘Shravan’, lakhs of ‘Kanwariyas’ travel 105 km from Sultanganj, Bihar, to offer holy Ganga water at the Jyotirlinga shrine — with around 55 lakh having visited so far this year.

Manoj Tiwari has not commented on the case. Dubey, however, took to X claiming the FIR was filed “for worshipping,” noting it was his 51st case and vowing to present himself for arrest.

The two MPs have faced controversy before. In 2022, they were among nine accused of pressuring Air Traffic Control at Deoghar Airport to clear a chartered flight for takeoff after hours — a case the Supreme Court quashed in January.