Bhagchandka is the CEO of the M2K Group that has business interests in “sunrise sectors such as biologicals, real estate and multiplexes … M2K has already enriched the National Capital landscape with some of the best multiplexes and outstanding housing projects”, according to its website. The group has built several residential apartment complexes in Gurugram, Delhi, and Dharuhera, along with commercial establishments such as shopping arcades and corporate parks.
Bhagchandka was born in Kolkata on August 1, 1958, and completed his BCom degree from Calcutta University. He was associated with the installation of Ram stambhs (pillars) at 222 sites linked to the Shri Ram Van Gaman Yatra — the route that devotees believe Lord Ram took while proceeding to his exile — and also served as a yajman (host or patron) during the Ram Temple bhoomi pujan (ground-breaking) and pran pratishtha (consecration) ceremonies.
Despite several attempts, The Indian Express could not reach Bhagchandka over the phone. The businessman has longstanding ties with the Sangh Parivar, with Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal serving as his mentor. When a book on Singhal’s life was released in 2015 in the presence of then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Bhagchandka paid tribute to his mentor.
“Mr Ashok Singhal’s contributions are very important in the present structure of the VHP. I remember the Boat Club campaign held in 1991. Approximately 25 lakh people from all over the world joined the campaign and shouted, ‘We swear to Lord Rama, we will construct the Rama temple there only’,” Bhagchandka said.
The businessman extolled Singhal’s contributions to helping the country move “towards a new direction” and said the VHP leader’s name would be “written in golden words as the greatest leader of Hinduism”.
Bhagchandka is associated with the Ashok Singhal Foundation and is also a member of the World Hindu Economic Forum’s executive committee. His association with the Singhal Foundation is significant in the context of the Ram temple movement and Singhal’s prominent role in it.
Prabhat Kumar of Prabhat Prakashan, which published the book on Singhal, told The Indian Express that Bhagchandka’s closeness to Singhal was typical of the relationship in the Sangh Parivar between mentors and those they take under their wings. “It becomes even closer than one’s own family sometimes,” Kumar said, describing Bhagchandka as a “committed social worker with nationalist views”.
