Billionaire politician disguises himself as a beggar for a day — here's what happened

A man sitting by the roadside asking strangers for help in Mumbai might have looked like another person struggling to get through the day.

Except this particular man had declared assets worth Rs 33.83 billion.

Parag Shah, a BJP member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and one of India’s wealthiest politicians, disguised himself as a beggar and spent a day on the streets of Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area as part of an unusual spiritual exercise.

Shah temporarily gave up his security, expensive vehicles and the outward signs of his wealth before putting on makeup and clothes designed to make him unrecognisable.

Then he went outside to discover how strangers would treat him when they had no idea who he was.

Why did he do it?

Shah said he undertook the exercise on the advice of Jain spiritual leader Namramuni during Paryushan Parv.

The festival places particular emphasis on introspection, humility, self-discipline and detachment from material possessions.

For Shah, the exercise meant temporarily stripping away something less tangible as well: status.

Video and photographs circulating online show the politician in his disguise sitting by the roadside and approaching people for help.

Without his usual clothes, entourage and public identity, most people apparently failed to recognise him.

Shah later said the experience let him see how people behave toward someone when they don’t know that person’s social or financial standing.

A free meal

One encounter particularly stayed with him.

According to Indian media reports, a food vendor offered Shah something to eat without demanding payment.

Other people also offered assistance.

Shah said the experience impressed him with the willingness of ordinary Mumbai residents to help someone they believed needed it.

After completing the exercise, he reportedly removed his disguise and revisited some of the same locations.

This time, his appearance produced different reactions.

One of India’s wealthiest politicians

The contrast between the disguise and Shah’s actual financial position is what has propelled the episode across Indian media and social networks.

In his declaration for the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election, Shah reported assets worth approximately Rs 33.83 billion, making him Maharashtra’s wealthiest candidate and placing him among India’s richest elected politicians.

Shah is also a businessman with interests in real estate.

The day on the streets did not, of course, replicate the reality of poverty.

Shah knew he could return to his normal life when the exercise ended.

He instead described it as a personal lesson in humility and an opportunity to see how people responded when the wealth and status normally attached to his identity were temporarily invisible.

For one day, at least, strangers weren’t looking at a billionaire politician.

They saw a man who appeared to need help.