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Hidden Raga In Dera Tune
Mansewak Singh
 BATHINDA: Political leaders of all hues either visited Dera
Sauda in Sirsa or raeched out to the dera authorities by using the
services of middlemen which are aplenty for the issue in
Punjab these days.
Even as Bathinda and the rest of Punjab was agog with talk
that Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal's wife Harsimrat Kaur
could not hope for victory if the Dera Sirsa, which commands
considerable number of votes in the area, the Dera refrained from
giving an open call to its followers to vote for any particular
political party.
Punjab election
experts however were quick to interpret the Dera's stance as only
benefitting the Congress. They said the Dera followers were miffed
with the Akali Dal, notwithstanding the fact that the Akali Dal
leadership was too soft on the dera. Dera authorities wanted the
Akali leadership to control the anger of the Sikh sangat, but the
grassroot level Akali workers and common Sikhs found it difficult to
gulp te insults meted out by the Deradom.
Sources said by not announcing open support for the Congress,
the Dera administration ensured that the Congress should not be
further blamed for being anti-Sikh. They said Sukhbir and company
would have lost no time in painting Amarinder as anti-Sikh had the
Dera gone in for an open support for the Congress.
"The way Amarinder Singh is running the Punjab Congress now,
it is a more panthic version of a political party than the Akali Dal.
At a time when Sukhbir Singh Badal is increasingly veering the party
towards Punjabisation, Amarinder has brought in many
died-in-the-wool Akalis to the Congress. This will likely help
Amarinder Singh in garnering many Sikh votes since the Badals image
has been taking a nosedive.
Experts said perhaps Badals are losing a large chunk of votes
due to the acitvities of those who are not even there in the fray.
For example the steller role played by the Khalsa Action Committee
or the activities and statements of Bhai Daljit Singh have impacted
many thinking Sikhs' minds who have started seeing Badal in the
larger matrix of panthic politics.
Amarinder Singh, of course, has minced no words in making it
clear that he has little problem in visiting the Sirsa dera, a line
that is out of step with the current panthic mood.
On its part, Dera Sirsa deliberately delayed a decision on
its stance about supporting any party as it wanted to use the entire
drama to underline its power. Gurmeet Ram Rahim's tactics ensured
that various political persons visited the dera and thus word spread
around about how much influnce the dera wields.
6
May 2009
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