Maneesh Chhibber 
Sirsa (Haryana): Even before Dera Sacha Sauda’s controversial convicted chief and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim was granted his umpteenth request for yet another parole – this one for a 20-day period – the word on the streets of Sirsa in Haryana, where the sect is headquartered, was that the convicted rapist was “coming soon”.
“Everyone here knows he is being released to help the ruling party (Bharatiya Janata Party). But, people have seen through such schemes and know the truth. We have already made up our minds,” says a local who did not wish to be named for fear of reprisal from his followers.
The Dera chief is serving a 20-year jail term in a Rohtak prison for the rape of two women disciples at his ashram. A Central Bureau of Investigation court in 2019 had also held him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder of journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati, an offence for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, such is his clout that every time he moves an application for grant of parole, word quickly spreads, often even before his application is decided, that he is coming.
To be politically correct and in a bid to appear fair, the BJP government sent his parole application to the Election Commission for its view, which dutifully sent it back to the government, allowing it to take a decision if the grounds on which the convict has sought parole were factual. He has once again been released from the Sunaria prison as a result.
‘Not as popular anymore’
Locals in Sirsa say most political parties and their representatives overestimate the self-styled godman’s clout among voters.
“The days when politicians from Captain Amarinder Singh [Congress-turned-BJP leader], Congress leaders, BJP leaders, and Indian National Lok Dal leaders used to line outside his doorsteps to receive his blessings are a thing of the past. Only the BJP is unable to understand this,” says a local.
His followers say Ram Rahim has a huge following in Sirsa and the neighbouring districts, including those in Punjab like Bathinda, and Sangrur. But, in the Lok Sabha elections, despite enjoying his covert support, the BJP lost the Sirsa seat to the Congress’s Kumari Selja by almost 2.70 lakh votes. Ditto for Hisar, adjacent to Sirsa, where also the sect claims to enjoy a massive following. The Congress candidate in Hisar, Jai Prakash, trounced the BJP nominee Ranjit Chautala by almost 70,000 votes.
In constituencies in Punjab – Bathinda and Sangrur – where there are a lot of Dera followers, the BJP candidates finished a poor fourth on both the seats.
‘Thinning influence’
Senior journalist K.B. Pandit says that while he did have support among voters earlier, things have changed after his conviction in the cases.
“Barring his die-hard followers, who are also mostly not voting per his diktat, his influence in electoral battles has thinned much. He claims he has over 6 crore followers. But on the ground, he has little, almost negligible, support,” Pandit says.
Pandit highlights the fact that in the last seven to eight years, whenever he has supported a party or an individual candidate, that candidate has never won. “Even his relative Harminder Singh Jassi, whose daughter is married to Ram Rahim’s son, has lost as many elections as he has won in the last over decades. Truth be told, Ram Rahim may prove to be a liability for the BJP, what with women voters, especially those in the rural belt, already upset with the BJP for the mistreatment of female wrestlers of Haryana,” Pandit says.
Anshul Chhatrapati, the son of slain journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati who has single-handedly been waging a battle against Ram Rahim, echoes the sentiment.
“He [Ram Rahim] should not be released from jail, even for a day. In the last few days, there have been strange about-turns by Haryana chief electoral officer Pankaj Aggarwal. But, it is a big mistake if the BJP thinks that he can clinch even one seat for the party. You wait and see,” Chhatrapati says.
He may have a point. For travelling parts of Haryana, one could see people, watching the unfolding developments with regard to the controversial self-styled godman on their TV screens, talking openly about alleged connections between him and the saffron party.
And, for most parts, the verbal verdict wasn’t either in his or the BJP’s favour.