Baba Rampal: Why everyone blames Haryana BJP government
The Haryana government is in the dock for its ambiguous stand on rogue godmen. While the government is bust patting itself on the back after controversial godman Rampal Dass was arrested on Wednesday, it bowed down before the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Singh after he (his dera) publically announced their support to the BJP.
Sources say, BJP MLAs were "paraded" before the controversial godman after the assembly election results were announced in Haryana. On November 12 BJP leaders including Haryana Assembly speaker Kanwarpal Gujjar, minister of state Krishan Kumar Bedi, president of the Haryana BJP, Ganeshi Lal, Haryana and Assembly election in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya besides another 17 MLAs (total 19 MLAs) bowed down before the dera chief and sought his "blessings". It is the first time that members of a political party, that too elected representatives including the speaker of the Vidhan Sabha and a minister met the Dera chief. The meeting was more a "thanksgiving" than a mere a "blessing seeking visit".
Sources close to the Haryana government said more cabinet ministers were about to join the "blessing yatra" but they were stopped by Chief Minister Khattar in the name of a meeting for which the presence was marked compulsory. However, despite the CMO’s diktat, the minister of state for social justice and empowerment, Krishan Kumar Bedi reached Dera. Interestingly, the party has tried to justify the meeting between its MLAs and the godman by saying that the MLAs and other leaders had met him in a personal capacity. “BJP had never asked for a support. The Dera’s political wing had made the appeal to its followers of their own.The MLAs and other leaders who met the Dera chief in their personal capacity,” Haryana’s BJP spokesperson Veer Kumar Yadav said.
While the Congress has so far been tight-lipped about the BJP's love for the Dera, the Aam Aadmi Party is the only party which lambasted the government on its ambiguous stand on the Deras.
According to AAP senior leader Yogendra Yadav: “The Haryana government has been pursuing different policies for different babas.” Yadav added thaat while the state government (19 BJP MLAs, a cabinet minister and the speaker of Vidhan Sabha) bowed down before a baba facing criminal charges, it resorted to violent action against the other. “The government should clear its policy about babas. Despite cracking down on Rampal another baba (Baba Ramdev) is being provided with a Z-plus security and his blessings are sought by all party MLAs. BJP’s politics of succumbing to these so-called babas is a dangerous trend for the country’s democracy and needs to be resisted.” the senior AAP leader added.
Echoing Yadav, Haryana’s leader of the Opposition and senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader, Abhay Kumar Chautala, also criticised the party's stand on rogue godmen.
“There are three rogue godmen in the state. Though one has been sent to jail the others should follow him. BJP will not be able to save their skins and the party will only earn a bad name if they continue to support these godmen,” Chautala said.
But it is not just the support that has the Opposition up in a flux. The Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Kiran Choudhry, has blamed the Manohar Lal Khattar Government for “unwanted and inexplicable delay” in the execution of the operation at Satlok Ashram to nab Sant Rampal Choudhary also flayed the administration for letting the cops loose on the media. “Why did the state government not go after Sant Rampal when the high court first issued non-bailable warrants against him on November 5,” she asked.
"They let more than 20,000 of his followers enter the ashram for a congregation and allowed Sant Rampal to build up a force to face the cops. Had the government acted with the promptitude the situation warranted, precious lives would have been saved," Choudhary added.