Ram Rahim remains silent ahead of Haryana polls. But the message of his dera will sound loud

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a life sentence in Rohtak jail for rape and murder and has walked out of jail again, on parole and ahead of the elections. Although the Election Commission has banned him from engaging in any political activity and he has not spoken a word in public, it seems the message from his dera will be loud and clear.

The dera has seen many politicians contest elections in the past, ostensibly in the hope that the dera chief could get his followers to vote en bloc – he wields considerable influence among Dalits in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The dera had a political wing but was dissolved in March last year, a member of the dera’s press wing said. However, members of the sect told the story News laundry that in the run-up to elections they have often received instructions to vote en bloc for a party. And a source in the dera claimed that its supporters are already holding meetings in villages to decide on a party ahead of the Haryana elections.

The record

Ram Rahim’s parole notice states that he is meant to stay in an ashram in UP’s Baghpat. And the Election Commission has imposed strict conditions, including a ban on his entry into Haryana and indulging in any political activity.

Authorities in Haryana told the state CEO that the dera chief’s release request referred to his father’s death anniversary on October 5, the health condition of his family members and a blood camp. The parole follows an August 10 order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court lifting the ban on granting him leave.

But this is not the first time that a parole for the Dera chief has sparked accusations about his influence over voters. This is his twelfth parole – he has spent more than 255 days on parole – and the fifth in the run-up to elections, following the first court ruling in 2017.

Ahead of the February 20 elections in Punjab, the dera chief was released on parole on February 7, 2020. Ahead of the Adampur election in Haryana on November 3, 2022, he was released on parole for 40 days on October 15. Ahead of the polls in Rajasthan on November 25, he was granted a 21-day parole on November 21, 2023. He was granted a 50-day parole on January 20 this year ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. And ahead of the Haryana elections on October 5, he was released on parole twice: once for 21 days on August 13 and then for 20 days this week.

The dera has millions of followers around the world and has been trying to reinvent Ram Rahim’s image after his conviction through virtual satsangs and speculation that he was a victim of the drug mafia conspiracy.

The mechanism

According to dera sources, a decision to vote for a particular party is taken at the highest level after discussions at various levels – village, block, district and state.

Sources claimed that the first discussion will take place at the level of a casual gathering of dera supporters in a village. The party’s choice is then communicated to the premium sewingwho is responsible for carrying out the activities of the dera in a village. The premium sewing then informs the block premium sewingwho in turn discusses it with a 15-member district panel. The district panel’s decision is passed on to an 85-member state committee, which forwards it to top management. The final decision is then passed on to the followers through the followers Sangat – the network of the dera’s supporters.

However, Dera spokesperson Jitendra Khurana said: “Pitaji (Ram Rahim) has nothing to do with the decision of the Sangat. The Sangat makes the decision at his own level. Pitaji has never made a decision about voting for a political party.”

Dera supporters call the chief “pitaji (father)”.

But Anurag Tripathi, a journalist who has written a book on the dera, claimed that Ram Rahim is “very politically savvy”. “Before 2011, he provided his support depending on the area. Meanwhile, Narendra Modi started being branded as a national leader. Gurmeet realized that there were advantages to joining hands with the BJP. There was more room for religious politics there. In such a situation, he openly supported the BJP. After that, the BJP and the Dera were together.”

According to one According to the report, ahead of the 2014 Haryana assembly elections, BJP state election chief Kailash Vijayvargiya had taken 44 party candidates to the dera headquarters in Sirsa district to meet Ram Rahim, who had reportedly asked them to wing of the dera.

A Times of India last year had alleged that the dera was organizing gatherings of followers that used to be attended by political leaders.

‘Decision not made by one’

Rajendra Prasad, op premium sewing from Bambura village of Rania, Sirsa constituency, a photo of Ram Rahim hangs on the wall, in the middle of a heart symbol. “I had nothing. Today because of pitaji (Ram Rahim), I have a battery company. I rent land and do farming by paying Rs 1 crore annually. Everything is thanks to pitaji.”

Ahead of this year’s Lok Sabha polls, the Sangat appealed to vote for the BJP and this was communicated a day before the elections, claimed Prasad, who has been associated with the dera since 1988. “The decision is made by everyone who is part of the Sangat. I am equally involved. It is not one person who decides.”

“It is often also said by the Sangat that you should vote for the candidate you think is the best. Then we will see which candidate speaks out against drugs, who will help us. Pitaji has commanded that wherever you live, you should live in unity.”

There are around 900 Dera followers in Bambura village in Sirsa district, where the Dera headquarters are located. Ram Rahim has not visited the dera in Sirsa since his conviction, but hundreds of people come to the site every day to listen to recorded sermons played on the screen.

About a kilometer away from the dera, Shahpur Begu village has 7,000 voters, almost half of whom are linked to the sect.

Balkrishna, a 55-year-old grocery shop owner from Shahpur Begu, has been associated with the dera since the age of 12. “No decision has been made on these elections so far. It has often happened that the decision was made on the morning of the election. It is often said that a family’s votes are divided between the BJP and Congress. Such decisions come when people from both parties come here seeking votes,” he alleged.

Gurudayal Kamboj is from the deras premium sewing in Shahpur Begu and has been involved with the sect since 1989.

“The followers vote unanimously. We voted for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections. In the last parliamentary elections too, we were asked to vote for the BJP. We receive information from management a day or two before the elections. But we are so well connected that the message reaches every supporter within 10 minutes.”

“There are around 500 voters in my village, of which 400 vote as per the instructions of the dera,” said dera follower Antu Ram Insan, of Talwara village in Ellenabad constituency. “True devotees vote as per the instructions of the dera.”