Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda and a convicted rapist, walked out of the jail once again following the Election Commission of India’s approval of his parole request on Monday. His release, which comes just days before the Haryana assembly elections on October 5, is notable given Singh’s significant influence in Haryana and Punjab.

Anshul Chhatrapati, son of the slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, for whose murder Ram Rahim is serving a life sentence, has written to the Election Commission (EC) regarding the pattern in the latter’s temporary releases. In his communication, he noted that out of the 10 paroles and furloughs granted to Ram Rahim, six occurred just before an election.

“For the first time, he got 21 days of furlough in February 2022 before the Punjab assembly elections. Then he got 30 days of parole in June 2022 before the Haryana municipal corporation elections. After that, in October 2022, he again got 40 days of parole before the Adampur assembly byelection in Haryana. He got 30 days of parole in July 2023 before the Haryana panchayat elections. Then he got 29 days of parole in November 2023 before the Rajasthan assembly elections,’’ Anshul wrote. 

An Indian Express report also indicated that Singh’s past furloughs and paroles have consistently coincided with various elections, whether municipal or state-level.

This time, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief will be subject to several restrictions while on parole, including a prohibition on entering Haryana and engaging in any election-related activities, whether in person or on social media.

How many times has Ram Rahim been released from jail?

Gurmeet Ram Rahim last returned to Sunaria jail on September 2, following a 21-day furlough granted on August 13. Since 2020, he has been temporarily released 14 times, accumulating a total of 259 days out on furloughs and paroles.

His parole on January 19 occurred just before the Lok Sabha elections, continuing the pattern of releases aligning with electoral events. He also received a 21-day furlough during the 2022 Punjab assembly elections and was released again on June 17, 2022, shortly before the Haryana municipal elections.

By the time this furlough period concludes, the Dera chief will have spent 255 days—over eight months—of his prison sentence outside jail. An examination of the recent paroles and furloughs reveals a pattern: many have coincided with elections in Haryana and other states. The latest furlough also occurs just weeks before Haryana’s Assembly elections on October 1.

In 2022, the Dera chief was granted three releases from prison. The first was a 21-day furlough in early February, shortly before the Punjab Assembly elections, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) achieved a significant victory with 92 seats, while the BJP secured only two and the Congress won 18. Then, in June, he received a 30-day parole, which raised eyebrows as panchayat elections were approaching. Although he remained confined to his ashram in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, Ram Rahim’s online discourses in Rohtak generated controversy when BJP leader and former Karnal mayor Renu Bala Gupta was seen seeking his virtual blessings. Finally, he was granted a 40-day parole in October, just ahead of an Assembly bypoll in Adampur.

In the following year, he received a 30-day parole in July during the panchayat elections in certain areas of the state. Later, in November 2023, he was released on a 21-day furlough just days before the Rajasthan Assembly elections, another state where the Dera has a significant following. In January, months before the Assembly elections, he was again granted a 50-day parole.

In 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two of his female followers. However, he and four others were acquitted by the high court in May concerning the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager, Ranjit Singh.