Dera yet to decide which party to support

Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a life sentence at Sunaria jail in Rohtak in the Chhatrapati murder case. He was sentenced to 20 years of jail in the rape case of sadhvis.

The Dera Sacha Sauda presented a show of strength ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with thousands of its followers thronging the commune’s headquarters at Sirsa on its 71st foundation day on Monday.

The dera’s insiders said the political wing may announce their support just a few days before the polling.(HT Photo)

However, the political wing of the dera is yet to make an announcement as to which party it would be support ing in the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections.

Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a life sentence at Sunaria jail in Rohtak in the Chhatrapati murder case. He was sentenced to 20 years of jail in the rape case of sadhvis.

There was heavy police deployment on all roads leading to the dera to avoid any untoward incident.

Shobha Insan, vice-chairperson of the dera, said in a tweet that a large number of followers reached the commune to celebrate the day.

Meanwhile, the dera’s insiders said the political wing may announce their support just a few days before the polling.

The polling will be held in Haryana on May 12 and in Punjab on May 19.

Earlier, Sirsa Lok Sabha candidate Ashok Tanwar had approached the dera followers in Ratia. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala has also said that he would seek the support of dera
followers.

The dera’s followers have been holding ‘naam charcha’ at various places in Haryana and Punjab for the past one month. The two states have a big presence of dera followers.

The dera had supported the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections in Haryana.

However, Ram Singh, the head of the political wing of the dera could not be contacted for his comments.