Who is Parag Shah? BJP MLA with Net Worth of ₹3,383 Crore Dresses as a Beggar to Experience the 'Reality of Life'

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AN MLA spending the whole day dressed in a beggar’s outfit sounds like a movie plot, but it is not. A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly from Maharashtra, Parag Shah, did exactly that. One of the state’s richest legislators spent a whole day on the streets of Mumbai after a suggestion from his Jain spiritual guru. The incident happened in mid-September 2026, during an ongoing special month in the Jain tradition.

A video of the whole exercise quickly went viral on social media, with many people surprised about why and how this happened. The reason behind this getup was his spiritual belief. The Jain spiritual guru whom Parag follows gave him this suggestion during an ongoing spiritual month in the Jain tradition. He asked Parag to dress as a beggar for one day to understand the reality of life and experience the struggles of ordinary people.

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BJP MLA Parag Shah Dresses As Beggar

Shah is one of the richest politicians in India, but with his guru Namramuni Maharaj’s command, he decided to temporarily abandon his luxurious life. The incident happened amid the Chaturmas of Jainism (July, 2026 to November, 2026), when Namramuni Maharaj suggested to Parag that he should dress as a beggar to truly experience life and understand how people have to face hardships on a daily basis.

Following his command, the MLA gave up his security cover and vehicles and put on makeup to look like a person living on the road. In disguise, he took to the streets of Mumbai and started begging for alms. He ate on the roads, experiencing the struggles that a person living as a beggar has to face. After removing his makeup, Parag returned to the places he had visited as a beggar and met the people again as an MLA.

Later, Shah expressed how he felt while asking for alms, “All the respect and honour, the people who line up to meet you -- the same people, when I go to them, become taller than me. So, that is the reality of life,” India Today quoted him as saying.

He also expressed happiness, saying that being a beggar made him realize how helpful the people of Mumbai are. The money, fame and power give birth to ego in a person, and this experience helped him get rid of that ego and become more grounded.

Shah further said, “Someone gave me Rs 20 saying, ‘Go baba, eat food’. There was a samosa seller there. I went to him and took a samosa, and he gave it without any charge. I saw one thing, Mumbai city is such that people here are always ready to help one another.”

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He added that when he asked for a samosa without money, the samosa seller gave him one with a smile even though he was also poor. Shah said that this experience made him realize that there is still humanity in the people of Mumbai.

Who Is Parag Shah? 

Parag Shah is a real estate developer and an MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As per an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, the MLA is considered the richest MLA in the BJP. The 57-year-old MLA represents the Ghatkopar East Assembly constituency of Mumbai, Maharashtra.

He has been elected twice from the same seat, first in 2019 and then in 2024. His assets, as per the report, are worth nearly Rs 3,400 crore.

Parag belongs to a Gujarati Jain family and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Osmania University. After completing his education, he decided to work with his family and joined the construction business in 1991, later becoming a successful real estate developer.

In 2002, he founded Man Infraconstruction Ltd. (MICL), which was later publicly listed on the Indian stock exchange in 2010.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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