BJP getting close to Dera?

Surinder Awasthi / TNN / Jan 21, 2008, 02:13 IST

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The question has been raised as the BJP executive and veteran BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon simultaneously though separately had pleaded the Dera's cause last week.

CHANDIGARH: Why the Dera Sacha Sauda is so dear to the Punjab BJP?
The question is raised in certain Akali quarters as the BJP executive and veteran BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon simultaneously though separately had pleaded the Dera's cause last week and sought to resolve the imbroglio at the earliest, thought it was no more under active public debate very recently.
The newly-constituted BJP executive, referring it 'unsavoury Dera Sucha Sauda episode' reiterated its resolve to protect the right of every individual to follow his religious practices. Also, the party is keen to ensure that the Dera followers should be free to observe their religion without any let and hindrance.
Perhaps, it was not just a coincidence that Tandon too wrote a letter to Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal focussing on the reports that the Dera followers were denied permission to observe their marriage or even death rituals, which he said had send wrong signals in the neighbouring states.

Making an passionate plea, Tandon requested Badal to intervene as CM and head of the Shiromani Akali Dal that controls the Sikh religious institutions including the SGPC, and ensure congenial atmosphere for peace and tranquillity.
Interestingly, Tandon in his letter specially mentioned that he was neither follower nor sympathiser of the Dera while the BJP too is not enamoured by the philosophy of the Dera chief.

Then, why the BJP has developed a soft corner for the dera followers?
Till a year ago, Akali leaders too were not averse to the Dera and many including Badal had been soliciting his support during the elections. But the outright support of the Congress in the last assembly polls and subsequently Dera chief aping tenth Sikh Master Guru Gobind Singh has created wedge between the dera followers and Akalis.
The Dera stands discredited to some extent and its base has apparently shrunk yet its followers are a political force in Malwa region and they are likely to swell the ranks of the Congress, which the BJP would like to stall at all costs.
And this new love for the Dera followers is emanates from the BJP's desire to expand its base as many Dera followers are disillusioned with the Congress too. The BJP has an opportunity to fill the political vacuum.
Incidentally, the BJP has been trying to set its feet in Malwa region for long. Of the 23 seats that are allotted to the party in coalition, none is in Malwa's districts of Sangrur, Bathinda, Barnala, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa, Moga and Muktsar. During the last assembly polls, the state BJP leaders had been itching to have couple of seats in Malwa where party's general secretary Harjit Grewal had done special efforts to strengthen party's support base.
Now, BJP smells an opportunity to and that too without at cost of its coalition partner. And the political observers see the BJPs recent rhetoric to achieve its long cherished dream to expand its base in Malwa.

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