Gurugram: The frequent release of of rape and murder convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, chief of the sect Dera Sacha Sauda, doesn’t seem to have helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) much in the just concluded Haryana assembly elections. Though the BJP pulled off a stunning win, of the 28 seats in six districts falling under the Dera chief’s influence, it won only 10, as opposed to the Congress which managed to win 15 seats.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) won two and the remaining seat went to an Independent.
The Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda enjoys considerable influence not just in parts of Haryana but also in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Political observers say the major concentration of Dera followers in Haryana is in six districts of the state: Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Karnal.
Jyoti Mishra, a researcher at the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said the Dera Sacha Sauda leader did not significantly impact voting patterns during the election. Caste-based voting patterns, she added, had a greater impact on the election results in these constituencies than Ram Rahim’s voter appeal. “This is because the Dera’s influence is primarily among Dalit communities, and the 28 assembly constituencies, believed to be home to Dera followers, tend to have a mixed population,” she told ThePrint.
“In fact, in the 15 assembly constituencies where the Congress won, the Jat and Jat Sikh populations were more prominent, consolidating support for the Congress. On the other hand, in the seats won by the BJP, non-Jat castes formed the majority, which favoured the party anyway with or without the Dera’s support,” she added.
Serving a life sentence for rape and murder cases, Ram Rahim has been released 11 times in the last two years. His release on 2 October, just days before the assembly elections sparked controversy with the Congress suggesting it could influence polling in Haryana.
The next day, a congregation was organised at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa. Ram Rahim was at an ashram in Uttar Pradesh, but a message was delivered to his followers, instructing them to support the BJP.
Additionally, they were told to bring five voters each to the polling booth.
No wave in Dera Sacha Sauda land
The BJP bucked an anti-incumbency wave to win Haryana for a third straight time despite exit poll predicting a comfortable Congress win. It won its best-ever haul of 48 seats while the Congress secured 36.
Of the five assembly seats in Sirsa district where the Dera Sacha Sauda is headquartered, the BJP failed to win a single seat. Sirsa, Ellenabad and Kalanwali assembly seats went to the Congress, and Rania and Dabwali to the INLD.
A source in the Dera, who didn’t want to be named, said the sect led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim supported Haryana Lokhit Party candidate Gopal Kanda in Sirsa, BJP in Kalanwali and the INLD in Ellenabad, Rania and Dabwali assembly constituencies.
The BJP lost all three seats in Fatehabad district (Fatehabad, Ratia and Tohana) to the Congress. Three of the seven seats in Hisar district (Adampur, Uklana and Narnaund) too went to the Congress, and three seats (Hansi, Nalwa and Barwala) went to the BJP. Savitri Jindal, who was in the fray as an Independent, won the remaining seat, Hisar.
In Kaithal, just one seat, Pundri, went to the BJP while Gulha, Kalayat and Kaithal went to the Congress. Similarly, of the four seats in Kurukshetra, the BJP won only Ladwa where Nayab Saini won. The other three (Thanesar, Shahbad and Pehowa) went to the Congress.
Karnal is the only district among those where the Dera holds sway where all five seats (Karnal, Assandh, Nilokheri, Indri and Gharaunda) went to the BJP.
Ram Rahim’s parole & furlough
The Dera chief has been granted parole or furlough 11 times since his first conviction in 2017, of which seven times was ahead of an election in Haryana, Punjab or Rajasthan, where he has a sizable following. He has been out of jail for 255 days.
Sunil Sangwan, the jailer during whose term Ram Rahim was released six times, won the Charkhi Dadri seat by 1,957 votes. He contested the election on a BJP ticket. Sangwan was the jailer of Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, where Ram Rahim was imprisoned. Ram Rahim was granted parole six times during Sangwan’s tenure. Sangwan joined the BJP on September 2. He is the son of former minister Satpal Sangwan, who also joined the BJP in April.
Satpal Sangwan contested the Charkhi Dadri seat in 2019, finishing second with 29,577 votes, while Babita Phogat, the BJP candidate, finished third with 24,786 votes.
Since 25 August, 2017, Ram Rahim has been serving a 20-year jail sentence for the rape of two female disciples.
Additionally, he was handed two life sentences: one in January 2019 over the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and another in October 2021 over the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
Ram Rahim’s considerable sway over a large and influential religious sect grants him significant political leverage, particularly in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and nearby states.
Prominent political figures from these regions have visited the Dera at different points of time to seek its endorsement. Among them are BJP leaders Anil Vij and Kuldeep Bishnoi, Haryana Congress leaders Deepender Hooda and Ashok Tanwar, the late Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Badal, former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
The Dera commands a vast following, as seen in the large gatherings during annual celebrations commemorating the birth anniversaries of its three spiritual leaders: Shah Mastana Balochistani, Shah Satnam Singh, and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Its followers number in the millions across India, with a significant portion hailing from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly the Dalit community.
The sect has bolstered its influence and built support through various charitable initiatives in education, healthcare and disaster relief.
Under the leadership of Ram Rahim, the Dera Sacha Sauda maintained political affiliations with parties from across the spectrum, extending its support to both the Congress and BJP at different times. Before the 2014 Haryana Assembly elections, the Dera openly backed the BJP, which helped the party form its first majority government in the state.
During a rally in Sirsa, Prime Minister Modi praised the Dera’s charitable works, although he avoided mentioning Ram Rahim directly, as the latter was facing criminal charges at the time. In another prominent instance shortly before the 2014 elections, Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP’s Haryana in-charge, accompanied 40 party candidates to meet Ram Rahim to “seek his blessings”. Following the BJP’s victory, over 18 MLAs and several ministers, including Vijayvargiya, expressed their gratitude to Ram Rahim for his support.
In another instance, just days before his 2017 conviction, Ram Rahim shared a platform with former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a sanitation campaign in Khattar’s home district of Karnal.
Since Ram Rahim took over the Dera’s leadership from Shah Satnam Singh in 1990, the sect has increasingly involved itself in regional politics. According to one follower, who wished to remain anonymous, Ram Rahim’s political involvement began around this time.
However, his foray into political influence was not without controversy.
In the run-up to the 2007 Punjab assembly elections, the Dera instructed its followers to vote for the Congress. Although the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won that election, it lost several key seats in the Malwa region, where the Dera has a strong presence.
Later in 2007, Ram Rahim was charged by the Punjab Police with ‘blasphemy’ for impersonating Guru Gobind Singh during a congregation in Salabatpura.
Since that incident, the Dera has taken a more cautious approach to its political activities.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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