Row erupts after Haryana CM secy, MP attend Dera chief’s online ‘satsang’
In the clip , Bedi said he and Panwar had come to Sirsa to invite people for a rally at Narwana on February to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Das.
The political secretary to Haryana chief minister, Krishan Bedi, and BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Krishan Lal Panwar, on Monday attended an online “satsang” (religious meeting) of rape and murder accused Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, triggering a political row.
Ram Rahim, who was released from the Sunaria jail on Saturday after he was granted a 40-day parole, addressed the event from his ashram in UP’s Baghpat.
A video of Bedi and Panwar interacting with Ram Rahim during the event has gone viral on social media. HT has seen the video but cannot verify its authenticity.
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In the clip , Bedi said he and Panwar had come to Sirsa to invite people for a rally at Narwana on February to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Das. “We are seeing our dharma premi (religious followers) have been busy in the cleanliness drive ... and congratulations to you for this,” Bedi is heard saying in the clip. In the video, Panwar is heard crediting Ram Rahim with promoting cleaniness. “You have created an interest among the people for cleanliness,” he said. Slamming the BJP, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan said: “Ram Rahim is a convict and BJP leaders are attending his satsangs to gain votes. The BJP has lost morality...”
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Panwar defended himself against the Opposition’s charges and said: “ We had gone to Sirsa to attend a BJP workers’ meeting. There we saw Dera followers cleaning roads. We went to a rest house in Narwana, where Bedi joined the satsang . We thanked him [Ram Rahim] for supporting the Swachh Bharat mission. There was no political motive behind joining the programme.”
