Manjeet Sehgal on politicians seek Dera blessings to win votes

If Himachal Pradesh is a land of gods, Punjab is a land of 'gurus', who take on an important role during elections when politicians come seeking their blessings and votes. For politicians in Punjab, the campaigning is not just limited to mollahs and villages of their constituency, it also includes paying visits to 'Deras' for an assured win.

'Dera' which also means a seat or a sect, is a place from where a particular religious guru originated. According to an estimate, there are over 9,000 deras in Punjab.

Though many Sikhs frown upon Deras, a sizeable chunk of Dera followers are Dalit Sikhs and Dalit Hindus. In fact, Punjab Dalits have their own deras, which are home to over sixty different sects.

Namdhari sect, Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, Dera Sacha Sauda (Sirsa Haryana), Radha Swami Satsang, Dera Sachkhand Ballan, Dera Baba Rumi Wala and Bhainiarawala Dera are some of the prominent Deras in the state. The number of Dera followers is in crores. Interestingly, Dera Sacha Sauda alone claims to have more than four crore followers.

Though many Sikhs are annoyed after the Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim had attired himself as Guru Gobind Singh, many of Punjab's politicians target Deras during elections to get assured votes. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and former chief minister and Congress nominee from Amritsar Captain Amarinder Singh besides several others are paying visits to Deras, temples, Gurudwaras and other religious places to secure 'committed votes'.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal recently visited Dera Baba Lal Nath and spoke to the Dera head privately for about 20 minutes. Though Badal termed the meeting as normal, the presence of Akali Dal's Jalandhar nominee Pawan Kumar Tinu clearly confirmed that the meeting was to seek votes of Dera followers.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had recently visited Dera Baba Rumi Wala in Bhuchchon Kalan, Bhatinda. Accompanied by Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans who is close to the dera head Sukhbir spent about one hour in the Dera. Though the deputy chief minister claimed he only came to seek the blessings of baba, political observers believe that the blessings also included votes for his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal who is contesting elections from Bhatinda.

Congress nominee and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh recently spent some considerable time at Dera Baba Rumi Wala in Bhuchchon Kalan, Bhatinda, and called the visit his 'Shradha' to the religious place. His religious tour also included a visit to Amritsar's Ram Teerath temple and a local church besides the Golden Temple Complex.

Deras have a strong say in Punjab politics. Sikh organisations and Deras have clashed with each other at times as well. In fact, the temporal head of Akal Takhat (Jathedar) Giani Gurbachan Singh had recently warned Badals not to visit Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa. But politicians do not shy away from using Deras for political gains.

During 2007, Dera Sacha Sauda had played a big role in Punjab politics by appealing its followers to vote for Congress. The Dera, however, later announced it will not support any party directly.

In a recent case, the Akali Dal nominee from Anandpur, Sahib Prem Singh Chandumajra called upon Swami Ramdev to seek his blessings for the coming elections. Analysts believe the Swami could play a crucial role.

Mother's recipe for elections

Call it a mother's unconditional love for her children or her recipe for success in elections. Doting mothers of five dominating Lok Sabha candidates are beating the heat to campaign for their sons and daughters in Haryana in their own style.

Asha Hooda, mother of Deepender Singh Hooda who is contesting election from Rohtak is leaving no stone unturned to get votes for her ailing son. With her exhaustive campaign strategy she has addressed over 70 gatherings so far. At times, she shares childhood memories of Deepender with the voters to strike a emotional chord.

Congress nominee Naveen Jindal's mother Savitri Jindal has also devoted herself to Kurukshetra constituency from where Naveen is contesting election again. Contacting voters door to door, she doesn't forget to share the list of development works done by her son.

Using her political experience and knowledge, former legislator and mother of Kuldeep Bishnoi, Jasma Devi is helping son draw an effective roadmap of success in Hisar.

Haryana's cabinet minister Kiran Chaudhary is a star campaigner for her daughter Shruti Chaudhary who is contesting election from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh. Despite being hit by miscreants with stones during campaigning, her enthusiasm remains unaffected. Also fiercely batting for her son Dushyant Chautala, who is Indian National Lok Dal candidate from Hisar, Naina Singh is stirring waves. The family is dealing with the agony of two family members - former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and Dushyant Chautala's father being in jail. Naina claims that Chautala's were subjected to a political conspiracy. Focused and committed, she plans public meetings and rallies for her son - a mother's punch to poll win, indeed.

Badal claims family is spying on her

Challenging the bastion of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Bhatinda has got People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal's family braving the side effects at home.

Manpreet Badal's wife Veenu Badal recently created ripples in the political circles by levelling serious allegations against the dominant Badals. She alleged that the CID and police are troubling her family by tapping their phones illegally. She also claims the conversations with her children over the phone are also being tapped and being sent to the family by police officials.

She further adds that the political differences between her husband Manpreet Badal and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal have also hurt family relations quite badly.

Manpreet Singh Badal, who is Sukhbir Singh Badal's cousin, is contesting election against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's daughter-in-law from Bhatinda Lok Sabha constituency.

Countering the accusations, brother Sukhbir Badal denied all allegations of phone-tapping on Manpreet's family.

"Our government is not snooping on anybody. It is only done to prevent crimes, and permission is required from the Ministry of Home Affairs before such an action can be carried out. The charges are completely false and baseless," Sukhbir Singh Badal said.

He also claimed that Manpreet will lose with a huge margin in the elections. "Manpreet Badal will lose with highest margin as people know about him. He is not what he shows. People know about his ability," declared Sukhbir Singh Badal in Chandigarh.