The BJP government in Haryana on Tuesday granted 20-day parole to spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, four days before the Assembly elections.

Gurmeet, who leads the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, is serving a life sentence at Haryana’s Rohtak district jail for the murder of a journalist, and a 20-year term for raping two disciples. Since 2020, he has been released on parole and furloughs 14 times for a total of 259 days. At least four times so far, these have coincided with elections.

The Election Commission has set stringent terms for granting parole to Gurmeet, including a ban on his entry into Haryana, delivering public speeches and indulging in political activities.

In a letter to the Haryana jail department’s additional chief secretary, the state chief electoral officer referred to the September 30 letter by the administration conveying the “emergency and compelling reasons” furnished by Gurmeet seeking 20 days’ parole.

Gurmeet has reportedly sought permission to stay at his ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat.

He was released on January 19 this year for 50 days, which preceded the Lok Sabha polls. During the Punjab Assembly elections in February 2022, Gurmeet was granted a 21-day furlough. Again in June that year, he was released during Haryana’s municipal polls. He was also released in August this year for 21 days.

Congress spokesman in Haryana, Kewal Dhingra, said: “Our legal cell wrote to the poll panel that there is an issue of date and time of the parole to Ram Rahim. He is being granted relief simultaneously with the election. This seems to be influencing
voters….”