Dera leader & rape, murder convict Ram Rahim gets 21 days furlough

Chandigarh: The jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was granted a furlough of 21 days, while the state is heading for elections on February 20. Ram Singh furlough ends on February 21, NDTV reported.

Ram Rahim, lodged in Rohtak jail, had got convicted and sentenced to a life term in October 2018 for cases of murdering his manager in 2002, a murder of a journalist and a 20-year term for raping his two disciples. He had received three emergency parole earlier after he applied for the same for his mother's medical check-up.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar L Khattar said that Ram Rahim's release had nothing to do with elections. He was released as per the established protocol, he said. Haryana Jail's minister Ranjit Singh Chautala also repeated the same.

NDTV reports that followers of Dera and Ram Rahim have great influence in the Punjab region. Also, more than half of the assembly seats in the state, 69 of 117, is in the Malwa region.

Dera followers vote according to their leaders' orders, and they are downcast after the arrest of Ram Rahim. In 2002 and 2007, the sect gave support to Congress, and that was explicit in the results.

Now, leaders of major parties Congress, the BJP, the Akali Dal, AAP etc., had met with Dera leaders in order to bag their followers. The Malwa region includes the districts of Bathinda, Muktsar, Sangrur, Mansa, Patiala, Barnala, Faridkot, Moga, Ferozepur, Ludhiana and Mohali.