By Andrew MacAskill and Rupam Jain Nair

RISHIKESH, India Mon Feb 2, 2015 10:23pm GMT

1 of 2. Indian priest-turned-lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj poses at his residence in New Delhi January 30, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee

RISHIKESH, India (Reuters) - In an ashram near the Ganges river in the Himalayan foothills, Indian priest-turned-politician Sakshi Maharaj mimes rowing a boat to illustrate what will happen if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ignores Hindu nationalist demands."Modi will have to be a boatman: one oar must focus on the economy and the other must concentrate on the Hindu agenda," says Maharaj, clad in saffron robes and sitting cross-legged on a bed.

He twirls his bejewelled fingers in the air, explaining that otherwise the boat will spin in circles.The Hindu priest, who has been charged with rioting and inciting communal violence, is the embodiment of hardline religious elements in Modi's party whose strident behaviour is dragging on the government's economic reform agenda.In recent months, Maharaj has created uproar by describing Mahatma Gandhi's Hindu nationalist assassin as a patriot, saying Hindu women should give birth to four children to ensure the religion survives and by calling for Hindus who convert to Islam and Christianity to be given the death penalty.For the first time since the election last year, some lawmakers in Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are rebelling against his focus on mending the economy and governance at the expense of promoting Hinduism.

This is testing the authority of a leader who captured power to a degree not seen since Indira Gandhi ruled India more than three decades ago.Hardline Hindu politicians impatient with Modi's refusal to champion their cause are beginning to advance their own agendas.

Maharaj, for example, wants to make it illegal for Hindus to change religions and seeks the death penalty for slaughtering cows, an animal revered by Hindus.

Protests erupted at the most recent parliamentary session over a campaign by hardliners to convert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, torpedoing key foreign investment legislation that the opposition had earlier agreed to pass.

Modi had to use executive orders to drive policy, but they are seen as a stopgap measure that cannot replace reforms needed to address India's slowing economic growth.

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Insight - Hardline Indian Hindus become Modi's enemies from within