Uttar Pradesh minister and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar's supporters in Dharampura village treat him as a deity and the politician doesn't mind at all.
Some supporters in the village in Sukhpura area keep his picture at their homes and recite the 'Omprakash Chalisa', the hymns composed in his honour.
His supporters said they gather once in a week at the village's Kali temple, place his statue there and pray that he becomes chief minister.
When asked why they do this, Sugri Devi said, "He is god for the poor and their true well-wisher."
Another villager, Ajanta Devi, said, "Om Prakash helps everyone and is advocating a liquor ban. I wish him to become the CM."
Asked about the practice, Rajbhar said, "There is nothing wrong in it".
"The person who does something for the poor becomes god in their eyes," he said.
Rajbhar's party is an ally of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh. But the minister has in the past criticised the government for not treating the backward classes well.
The SBSP chief recently blamed corruption among the bureaucrats for the recent BJP defeat in the bypolls in the state.
—Inputs from PTI