Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday, 10 April, said he was hopeful that religious sect Dera Sacha Sauda would support the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, reported The Times of India.
“There are all kinds of deras. Hence, our party workers will certainly contact all of them, including Dera (Sacha Sauda). We are hopeful of support from them as well,” Khattar had said, during an interaction with a group of journalists, according to The Times of India.
Dera Sacha Sauda is the religious sect whose controversial leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim was convicted for the rape of two followers and sentenced to 20-year imprisonment in August 2017.
The Haryana chief minister had received flak over his handling of the situation in Panchkula after the Dera chief’s conviction. Defending his stance, he said it is the BJP’s right to seek votes from any group.
Around 42 people were killed in the violence that followed Gurmeet Ram Rahim's conviction in August 2017 in Panchkula. The Dera functionaries are still facing a number of cases linked to the violence.
The Dera chief had announced his support for the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections after Amit Shah's visit.
Khattar also criticised the Bhupinder Hooda-led Congress government for condemning deras in Haryana. “If the Congress government had dealt with Satlok Ashram properly, the Barwala incident would not have occurred,” he said.
(With inputs from TOI.)
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