Tribune News Service
Bathinda, March 14
To concentrate on picture constructing, Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda has dissolved its political wing, which was fairly energetic throughout elections in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, whereas saying assist to events and candidates.
Harcharan Singh, a member of the Dera Sacha Sauda 45-member committee, stated, “Dera has dissolved political committee. Its members have been relocated to state committees as we’re specializing in social work.”
Another dera functionary, talking on the situation of anonymity, stated, “We can’t say something about future. But evidently the political wing is not going to be reconstituted quickly.”
It appears that since dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s conviction in 2017, the dera following and picture had taken a tough hit. Apart from this, the monetary place of the dera was additionally hit following the closure of its business institutions and manufacturing models as its property and financial institution accounts had come below the ED scanner.
After the dera head lately got here out on 40-day parole, it stepped up its social actions. The sect is on the trail of reviving its picture and making an attempt to attach with the individuals.
The Sirsa-based dera, based in 1948, stayed apolitical for over half a century. However, within the 2002 Assembly polls, its covert assist helped the Congress return to energy in Punjab. The sect then launched a 45-member political affairs wing (PAW) to “advise” followers on their political and electoral decisions.
In the 2007 Assembly elections, the dera brazenly backed the Congress. Its sizeable vote financial institution in not less than 40 of Malwa’s 69 segments performed a key position because the get together gained 37 seats within the area in opposition to 29 bagged by the SAD-BJP alliance. However, the Congress did not retain energy because it was just about routed in Doaba and Majha areas.
A few months after the SAD-BJP authorities took over, Ram Rahim kicked up a row when he allegedly imitated Guru Gobind Singh at a congregation on the Salabatpura centre in Bathinda on May 13, 2007. The controversy sparked violence between dera ‘premis’ and Sikhs. This prompted Akal Takht to go a ‘hukamnama’ (edict) in opposition to the dera.
During the 2012 Assembly polls, the sect once more walked a tightrope by supporting choose candidates as an alternative. In 2017, the dera introduced open assist to SAD candidates in southern Malwa.
