Leaders Bowing Before the Deras

Inderbir Singh from Chandigarh

As the date of polling approaches for the Punjab Assembly elections on February 20, leaders of all political parties have enhanced their rounds of religious camps. There are more than 100 such small and big Deras(religious sects) in Punjab, which have a lot of interference in the politics here, in fact, leaders seek blessings from these Deras chiefs through their huge devotees about which party they have to support.

 In these Dera, Radhasoami Dera Beas has a wide influence in other states outside Punjab, so the small and big leader of every party does not shy away from bowing down here during the election season, but this dera refrains from openly supporting any one party. At the same time, Dera Sacha Sauda, which had openly supported political parties, influenced about 40 seats out of 65 seats in the Malwa region of Punjab.

 In 2007, Dera Sacha Sauda openly supported the Congress, but the Congress got 44 seats, while the Akali Dal was successful in forming a coalition government with 48 seats and the BJP 19 seats. In the 2012 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections, Captain Amarinder Singh met Gurmeet Ram Rahim to seek support from Dera Sacha Sauda but that time the Dera supported the Akali Dal and while forming the government for the second time in a row, the Akali Dal improved the performance of 2007 in 2012, Won 56 seats.

 Ahead of the 2017 assembly elections, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, surrounded by allegations of sacrilege incidents of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in 2015-16, tried to trouble the Congress by issuing a mandate in the favor of Shiromani Akali Dal. The arrests of some followers of Dera Sacha Sauda in connection with the sacrilege incidents took place during the Congress government of Captain Amarinder Singh in 2017 due to which there was anger against the Congress in the Dera.

 Despite the absence of Ram Rahim, who is serving a life term sentence in Haryana’s Rohtak’s Sunaria Jail since October 2017, in charge of raping sadhvis, the dera’s interference in the politics of Punjab has not diminished. Gurmeet Ram Rahim videos are being shown to the devotees on the big screens in Dera’s premises. Those letters are also read out which Gurmeet Ram Rahim sends from jail.  Cabinet minister Vijay Inder Singla, former minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, former MLA Harminder Jassi and BJP leaders Harjit Grewal and Surjit Jyani, Jagroop Gill of Aam Aadmi Party and Gulzar Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal, among leaders who reached the dera in Salabatpur in Bathinda district on January 9 to seek votes.

On the question of support to political parties, Dera’s Sacha Sauda political committee chairman Ram Singh told Outlook, “Leaders of all parties are coming these days in our Sunday Satsang of  Deras in Punjab but till now Dera has not supported any party because yet haven’t decided, the decision will be taken at the right time”. However, Dera sources say that this time instead of supporting a particular party, candidates can be supported individually. In Punjab, 84 Dera Sacha Sauda centres have a significant influence in 40 out of 65 seats in the Malwa belt. In the Salabatpura Dera of Bathinda district, a controversy erupted over Gurmeet Ram Rahim disguised as Guru Gobind Singh during an event in 2007. The SIT(Special Investigation Team) probing the incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in 2016, in its report filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has said that the act of sacrilege was hatched in the administrative block of the Sirsa headquarters of the Dera. So far, the SIT has interrogated Ram Rahim twice in jail in the case.

 Regarding the support of  Dera, Prof. Khalid Mohammad, Political Science of Panjab University, Chandigarh says, “Dera Sacha Sauda, which is surrounded by controversy, will have an impact in this election as well and the role of  Dera is important in the victory of candidates in many seats. If even one or two per cent of the vote turns towards any side because of the dera, then it will have a lot of impact in the seats of the assembly where there is a close contest. In this time’s assembly elections, the Dera may not come openly in favour of any one party, but this time can support the candidates of Aam Aadmi Party in many seats in Malwa.”

Dera Sacha Sauda also played a big role in the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 assembly elections in Haryana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid respect to Gurmeet Ram Rahim at a rally in Sirsa during the election campaign for the assembly. Dera’s devotees are blaming the Haryana BJP Manohar Lal Khattar government behind Ram Rahim’s imprisonment in October 2017, due to which the people of Dera may remain against BJP in Punjab.

 The big Deras of Punjab, Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Dera Noormahal, Dera Nirankari, Dera Sachkhand Ballan and Dera Namdhari, have poll-resulting effect in 66 of the 117 assembly seats. This is the reason that as soon as the elections come, there is a competition among the political leaders to get the support of these deras. During this election campaign, many political leaders have made rounds of  Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal started the new year by visiting Dera Sachkhand Ballan. On 31 December 2021, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal also bowed down to this dera. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi accompanied Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to Dera Sachkhand Ballan as soon as he took over as the chief minister after the ouster of Captain Amarinder Singh in September 2021 and was preceded by Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu.

 Dera Sachkhand Ballan is a major spiritual centre of the Ravidasiya community. Most of the followers of this dera belong to the scheduled castes and political parties believe that if they get the support of the dera’s leadership, then the followers of the dera will vote in their favour in the elections. In Punjab, 32 per cent of voters belong to the Scheduled Castes.

  It is believed that the major reason for the rise of Deras in Punjab is social discrimination and hence most of the followers of these Deras come from the lower strata of the society. Gurdwaras in the villages of Punjab are also caste-based. When people see that all castes are treated equally without any discrimination, they go to the deras.

Dera Noormahal of Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, based in Jalandhar, its head Ashutosh Maharaj was declared dead in 2014, but his followers don’t accept his demise and have kept his body in a deep freezer as they claimed Maharaj is under Samadhi, still has a lot of influence in the Dalit dominated Doaba area. Dera’s open support to BJP and Congress has been a major reason for the victory of Congress and BJP in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seats of Doaba. Apart from Punjab, Radhaswami Dera Beas, which has a lot of influence in other parts of the country, influences a large section. Being a Jatt Sikh, Radha Soami Dera Beas chief Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon has a good foothold among Jatt Sikh politicians of every party. The wife of Shiromani Akali Dal’s Bikram Majithia is the niece of Dera chief Dhillon.

In his111-day tenure as Chief Minister, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has visited Dera Beas thrice. Although Dera Beas does not openly support any political party in the elections, top leaders of BJP, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party have been participating in the Satsang programs of Dera. A devotee associated with Dera Beas, on the condition of anonymity, has to say, “party’s big leader takes a round of  Dera Beas by sitting with Baba Ji in his Maruti gypsy, the support and victory of that party are ensured. Before the 2017 assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi and Captain Amarinder Singh were made to visit the dera sat in the gypsy of Baba ji.”

 From the top leaders of all parties including the ruling Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party and the contesting candidates bowing down on the deras nowadays, of which party will be easier to reach the Punjab assembly this time, it will be clear from the election results on March 10.