An ominous fall-out to the election campaign in Punjab has been demonstration of over-bearing impact that deras enjoy on voters.
In the final reckoning after the month-long campaigning, it was not factors like the governance, corruption or for that matter development that were drummed about by the candidates. Instead it was deras and their followers which became the focus of their attention giving a serious twist to the socio-political situation in Punjab.
Will deras be deciding which political party would be at the hustings? Will deras start playing significant role in the formation of the state government in the days to come?
According to conservative estimates, deras would wield influence to sway the voters in more than 70 of the 117 assembly constituencies in Punjab.
During the election campaign, more than 200 candidates sought to take favour of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh. While chief minister Parkash Singh Badal is believed to have had held a secret meeting with the dera chief for currying favour of dera followers in his Lambi Assembly constituency, state Congress president Amarinder Singh made no bones about his meeting with the chief. Amarinder, in fact, announced on the day of polling that the dera followers in the state would favour the Congress. In 2007 the dera chief had given an open call to his followers to support the Congress, which, however, cost him dear later on as the Akali government slapped a few police cases on him.
Similarly Dera Sachkhand and Dera Radha Sowami in Jalandhar district have been also taking political positions, though not openly. But a word from the dera chief does go around among followers to favour candidates or a particular political party.
In some constituencies heavy turn-out of voters has been attributed to call given by the respective deras, which, political analysts feel, is a “seriously dangerous phenomenon” for the social texture of Punjab.
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