Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reached out to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim to seek support before the 2014 Haryana assembly election, a factor which tilted the scales in favour of the saffron party and helped it form the government on its own for the first time.
As many 44 of the 90 BJP candidates turned up to meet self-claimed godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at his Sirsa-based Dera in October 2014, the Economic Times reported.
Take a note that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was accused of raping his devotees for over 15 years. On Friday afternoon, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was found guilty of rape by a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana.
In 2002, one of his female followers alleged that she and two others were raped by Ram Rahim in his den.
Ram Rahim, for the first time in its history, announced open support to BJP in the 2014 assembly poll. The Dera chief even cast his vote at Shahpur Begu village in Sirsa.
According to reports, while campaigning for Haryana assembly election, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Baba Ram Rahim Singh. The news report by Times News Network (TNN) quoted Modi as saying, "Mein guru maharaj Ram Singhji Mastanji ke Sachhe Sauda ko pranam karta hun (I salute Singhji, Mastanji's Sauda)."
The controversial godman drives a Range Rover SUV and has a convoy of 100 vehicles which includes 16 black Ford Endeavours and enjoys a 'Z+' category security.
