Ram Rahim Granted 20-Day Parole Ahead Of Haryana Polls, 15th In Four Years

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, leader of Dera Sacha Sauda and a convicted rapist, has been granted 20 days of parole ahead of the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls, marking this his third temporary release in nine months and the fifteenth in four years.

While on parole, Singh will face specific restrictions, including a ban on entering Haryana and a prohibition on participating in any election-related activities, whether in person or on social media, as per India Today report.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday cleared Singh’s parole application and forwarded it to the Prisons Department, which then sent it to the Divisional Commissioner of Rohtak.

He will be released soon after receiving the necessary clearance from the local administration in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, where he will stay during his parole.

Singh had requested parole, citing the death anniversary of his father, Maghar Singh, which is observed as Parmarthi Diwas on October 5.

Notably, some of his previous paroles and furloughs have coincided with elections in Punjab, Haryana, and neighbouring states. He was granted three weeks’ furlough from February 7, 2022, just two weeks before the Punjab Assembly polls.

In response to Ram Rahim’s parole, Haryana Congress Spokesperson Kewal Dhingra said, “Our Legal Cell wrote a letter that there is an issue of date and time of the parole to Ram Rahim. He is being granted bail simultaneously with the election. This seems to be influencing voters.”

Dhingra further added: “Election Commission has perhaps taken cognisnace of the matter…The letter has been written to get assurance that there is no influencing of voters.”

Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband, Robert Vadra, alleged that the BJP is behind the release of both Ram Rahim and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal to campaign in the Haryana polls, with an aim of denting the Congress’ chances.

“When they release Baba Ram Rahim for 20 days before the elections who has charges of murder, rape, and you (BJP) release him to campaign… I would say having Kejriwal ji come out of the prison just in time so that he can campaign in Haryana, I think these are premeditated thoughts of the BJP,” Vadra told PTI.

Who is Ram Rahim?

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the self-styled godman, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 2017 for raping two women disciples at his ashram in Haryana’s Sirsa.

In 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced him and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002. His conviction on August, 2017, triggered violence in Panchkula and Sirsa, resulting in 41 deaths and over 260 injuries.

Ram Rahim is currently held at the high-security Sunaria jail in Rohtak, 250 km from the state capital, Chandigarh. Previously, the high court rejected his plea for parole to attend the wedding of his foster daughters.

(With inputs from agencies)