Haryana assembly polls: Dera Sacha Sauda's political wing to support BJP

CHANDIGARH: The Bharatiya Janata Party has cosied up to the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda in the last lap of campaigning for Haryana assembly polls in a bid to woo Dalit voters as it does not appear to have made much inroads into the Jat-dominated districts.

The party has outdone its rivals in reaching out to the religious sect, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauding the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim at a rally in Sirsa on Saturday.

The dera, which has a considerable appeal among Dalits in the northern states and is believed to have a following of six million in Haryana, is known to give political dictates to its followers.

In his speech, the PM mentioned his earlier visit in 1995 to the dera.

Last week, the BJP’s Haryana in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya had led a team of over 40 candidates to Sirsa for blessings of the dera chief.

“The dera conducted a survey to assess public opinion a couple of months ago,” a member of the team that handles political affairs for the dera said on condition of anonymity.

The dera is believed to have supported the Congress in the previous assembly elections in the state, just as it did in the neighbouring Punjab. Although the Congress, led by Captain Amarinder Singh, lost the polls, the party fared well in districts bordering Sirsa in Punjab. “It shows that the BJP is not confident of Modi wave,” said former bureaucrat and INLD general secretary RS Chaudhary. “The INLD had nine out of the 17 reserve candidates in 2009 assembly,” he added.

Congress national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma, among other politicians, had sought blessings of the dera at the time.

Leaders of the other parties including Haryana Janhit Congress leader Devi Lal had also meet the dera chief.

“Not just leaders of political parties but independent candidates have also visited the dera,” said Pawan Insaan, a key dera official.

The dera chief has been embroiled in grave controversies in the past, including a CBI charge sheet for alleged rapes and another case of involvement in murders of dera official and a Sirsa-based journalist.