Congress MLA accuses BJP govt of cheating dera and looting its wealth

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 19

Congress MLA from Palwal, Karan Singh Dalal, on Tuesday accused the BJP government in the state of cheating Dera Sacha Sauda and its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. He said the BJP had used him for coming to power in the state.

Speaking to media persons here, Dalal also accused the BJP leaders of having “looted” huge wealth of the dera.

Dalal made it clear that he had no sympathies with Ram Rahim, who, he said, should be made to suffer for what he did, but he said he was shocked at the manner in which the government dealt with the dera chief and his poor followers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Backward classes.

“The state government played treachery with the unsuspecting followers by first allowing them to assemble in large numbers in Panchkula by serving them langar and then asked the police to pump in bullets in their chests and heads when they had come to believe that the government was on their side,” Dalal alleged.

Dalal raised question on Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s statements reported in a section of media that the government allowed people to assemble in Panchkula as a ploy to make Ram Rahim come out of his dera and appear before the special CBI court.

“Was this state government’s job to ensure that the dera chief appears before the court?” Dalal asked.

He said the government’s role would have come into play only if the dera chief had not appeared and the court had issued warrants for his appearance.

The Congress leader alleged that the state government deliberately delayed entry of security forces into the dera so that the BJP leaders could loot the immense wealth the dera chief had accumulated.

He said that given the fact that every dera follower donated Rs 1 per day to the sect, more than Rs 5 crore must be coming to the dera every day.

He also rejected police claims of manhunt for Honeypreet and alleged that first she was given a VVIP treatment by allowing her to travel with Ram Rahim to Sunaria Jail on chopper and now drama was being enacted.

“She must be hiding in the house of some BJP leader who used to bow their heads before Ram Rahim before August 25,” Dalal alleged.

Releasing a list of 26 MPs, including 14 belong to the BJP, whose income had increased five times or more between 2009 and 2014 elections, Dalal demanded action against them as per the Supreme Court guideline.

Ironically, his party’s president Sonia Gandhi’s name also figured in the list with her income registering an increase of 573 per cent in five years.

He said Sonia’s name has been included by the government in its affidavit given to the court to defame her.

Dalal also accused the BJP government of trying to muzzle his voice by ordering IT raids at his residence a day after announcing dates for assembly session.