Digital Desk: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, will be released from jail in Haryana's Rohtak this evening after being granted a 21-day furlough for the murder of his manager in 2002 and another for the death of a journalist, as well as a 20-year sentence for rape.
He had previously been granted three emergency (sunrise-to-sunset) paroles in order to visit his ailing mother and undergo medical examinations. However, this announcement comes fewer than two weeks before the Punjab elections, in which the BJP (now in power in Haryana) is attempting to unseat the Congress.
Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar claimed the furlough has nothing to do with any election today at a party event. He and the state's Jails Minister, Ranjit Singh Chautala, both stated that the Dera chief was granted leave in accordance with protocol.
In Punjab's Malwa district, Dera followers, notably those of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, are powerful, with their votes viewed as crucial in deciding parliamentary and legislative elections.
The Malwa area has 69 constituencies, accounting for more than half of the 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly.
Dera members, who number in the millions and have remained mostly quiet since Rahim Singh was imprisoned, are commonly suspected of voting according to sect leaders' orders.
In 2002, the cult was accused of providing covert support to the Congress.
In 2007, the party had widespread support, and the result was spectacular, with the party capturing 37 seats to the (then) BJP-Akali Dal alliance's 29. The Congress, on the other hand, came up short in that election, losing in the Doaba and Majha regions.
In the 2012 election, the group walked a fine line by endorsing individuals rather than political parties. It also backed the BJP-Akal Dal combination in 2017, but they were defeated.
This time, all major parties have been seen with sect leaders, including the Congress, the BJP, the Akali Dal, and the AAP, in an attempt to win over their supporters' votes.
Bathinda, Muktsar, Sangrur, Mansa, Patiala, Barnala, Faridkot, Moga, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, and Mohali are the districts that make up Punjab's Malwa region.
On February 20, Punjab voters will elect a new administration in a single-phase election; Ram Rahim Singh's vacation will finish the next day.
The election had originally been scheduled for February 14 but was postponed after political parties requested the Election Commission to factor in Guru Ravidas Jayanti celebrations.
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