Welcome to Dera Sacha Sauda, the controversial but highly influential religious sect based in Sirsa, Haryana. Its support is being sought by candidates of every party for the Punjab Assembly elections.

The reason why politicians are eager to curry favour with the Dera is the huge votebank — Dera officials claim the number is 30 lakh-plus in Punjab alone — that the sect controls.

In the 2007 Punjab Assembly elections, the Congress belted the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in the Malwa region, a stronghold of the SAD, only because of the open support it got from the Dera.

On January 15, 196 candidates contesting the Punjab Assembly elections were asked to come to Sirsa for “blessings” from Dera head Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh. All invitees had sought appointments for one-on-one with the Dera chief, some having registered requests almost two months ago.

“We have a system where anybody who wishes to meet Babaji has to make a request at the administrative office of the Dera. There is a phone number at which you can make a request if you can’t come personally. Everybody has to follow this. There are no exceptions to this rule,” said Jagdish, an engineer who returned from the US to become a “sevak” at the Dera.

Since last Sunday, the Dera office has received appointment requests from another two dozen candidates.

Last month, former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh came to the Dera. So did Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Both came separately to seek “blessings” of the Dera chief. Former Punjab Minister and PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal was also granted audience with the sect head.

“They sought an appointment and when Babaji gave the go-ahead, they were informed. Babaji met them for 2-3 minutes,” said Ram Singh, chairman of the seven-member Political Affairs Committee of the Dera which decides which political party or candidate gets the support of the “premis” or the Dera followers.

Asked if Congress candidate from Bathinda Harminder Singh Jassi, whose daughter is married to the son of Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, also has to seek an appointment to meet the Dera chief, Ram Singh replied in the affirmative. “Babaji doesn’t differentiate between anybody. Nobody is a VIP here. Jassi doesn’t enjoy special status due to his relationship with Babaji,” Singh said.

Asked if anybody from the Badal family had met the Dera chief recently or sought an appointment, Singh said no. “But there were many Akali Dal and BJP candidates who came here last Sunday.”