New Delhi: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on Thursday clarified that his Dera is not extending supporting to any political party including Akali Dal-BJP combine in the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls.
"We have no interest in politics and are not at all allied with any political party. People from every party approach us and we give them our blessings," Ram Rahim told CNN-News18.
Rahim further said, "We never support any political party 100% percent. Who the people of my Dera support is their personal choice and that does not mean that the entire dera suppoerts the Akali Dal and BJP."
He also added that he getting the Z-Security has got nothing to do with him supporting SAD-BJP combine.
Earlier, there were reports that Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda had announced support for the SAD-BJP combine.
The Assembly election to 117 seats in Punjab is to be held on February 4.
The followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda headed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh have major presence in 27 different segments, especially in Malwa region of the state, which comprises 69 Assembly seats.
In 2007 Punjab Assembly polls, Dera had thrown its weight behind Congress following which the SAD-BJP combine was routed in its Malwa stronghold, even as the combine got a simple
majority in the 117 member assembly.
According to sources, Dera Sacha Sauda has about 5 crore supporters who are known as 'premis'. There are more than 35 lakh Dera devotees in the state, 70 per cent of them are in the Malwa region.
Many leaders from Congress, SAD-BJP and AAP had visited the Dera Sacha Sauda recently to seek blessings of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
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