Their chief Ram Rahim in jail, Dera followers yet to decide who to vote for

Since the self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim was sentenced to life imprisonment in January for killing a journalist, followers of his Dera Sacha Sauda have been lying low at the sprawling 800-acre campus outside Sirsa in Haryana.

The followers say they are also unsure about who to support in this election.

The Dera has been an important vote bank for parties for over a decade. In 2007, it had formed a political affairs wing which decided which political party or politician it will support.

During the 2007 Punjab Assembly election, it supported the Congress.

In 2014 general election, the Dera openly supported the BJP.

But after the sentencing of their flamboyant but controversial chief, the Dera and its political affairs wing became dysfunctional, locals and followers said.

This, however, has not stopped political parties, including the BJP and the INLD, from saying they will not refrain from seeking support of the once-influential Dera Sacha Sauda.

BJP leader and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said he was not averse to Dera support in Lok Sabha election, and defended his stance, saying it is a political party's "right to seek votes in an election".

INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala too has said his party will seek the Dera's support.

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar has ruled that option out. Jakhar said, "We shall not compromise with Sirsa Dera for the election after sacrilege (incidents) have been traced to it."
A Dera functionary, who did not wish to be identified, said, "Guru ji never told us who to vote for."
Gautam said many people have been rendered jobless because of the closure of the Dera units. "So whom to vote for is still a question in our neighbourhood."