Sirsa candidates still woo Dera

SIRSA: Nothing has changed over the last two years for Baljeet Insaan. Her devotion to “pita ji” remains intact. She says prison bars cannot contain his healing effect. After all, she says, he cured her of cancer 20 years ago.

There are many like Baljeet who swear by Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s “powers”, more so at the Dera headquarters on the outskirts of Sirsa in Haryana, even after his arrest and conviction for the rape of two followers and murder of a local journalist who exposed the scandal in 2017. Though followers at the Dera compound deny it, the Dera following has come down considerably.

But this has not deterred the present followers from looking towards the Dera for solutions to all their problems, including who to vote for.


“Of course, we are advised who to vote for,” says Kamala Insaan, a Dera volunteer from Sirsa. “But this happens only a day or two before the voting. Dera’s administrative wing pushes the message on Sunday’s sangat (public meetings at Dera) or through our network.”

But how do the followers trust this decision to Dera? “If we trust our pita ji to cure us from behind the bars, if we trust him with our health issues and life decisions, who to vote for is just a small part,” she says laughing. Despite the dwindling numbers, the Dera is being actively wooed by all political parties.

“I have sought support of Dera Sacha Sauda,” says BJP’s Sirsa candidate Pradeep Ratusaria. “I am hopeful they will give me the support as they supported BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.”

Dera is keenly watched by political candidates in Sirsa. “It still has support of people, especially people from the Dalit samaj. If you see sangats, you will know that they have a presence across states,” adds Ratusaria.

Bhupesh Mehta, president of Sirsa’s Punjabi Samaj, says Dera’s presence cannot be undermined in Sirsa district.