The timing is a dead giveaway. Dera Sacha Sauda head and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been released on parole barely three days ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls. This is the last roll of the dice by the ruling BJP, which is desperate to counter anti-incumbency and withstand the Congress challenge. Ram Rahim continues to have a sizeable following in parts of the state — notwithstanding his conviction in rape and murder cases — and even his covert diktat to his flock can have a bearing on the saffron party’s fortunes. During the parole period, the dera head will not be allowed to enter Haryana or take part in election-related activities. However, these restrictions are a mere fig leaf — Ram Rahim will have the leeway to influence voters without being present on ground zero, thanks to social media and word-of-mouth publicity. In any case, he does not have to make a public speech to get his message across to his devotees.

There are no prizes for guessing what ‘compelling reasons’ prompted the dera chief to seek parole weeks after he had returned to Rohtak’s Sunaria jail following a 21-day furlough. The alacrity with which his plea has been processed and pushed — from the caretaker Chief Minister’s office to the Prisons Department and then the state’s Chief Electoral Officer — shows that the authorities can dispense with the cumbersome red tape whenever they want to do it.

The Congress’ petition to the Election Commission of India, demanding that parole not be granted as it would amount to a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, has gone in vain. It’s a moot point whether the ‘Messenger of God’ can make a divine intervention to decisively impact the electoral outcome. Ram Rahim might not be as powerful as he was a decade ago, but the ease with which he has secured parole and furlough in recent years indicates that he is no pushover. One thing is crystal clear: his release will force the BJP’s rivals to recalibrate their strategy, and that too at the eleventh hour.

(Tribune, India)