Dera Sacha Sauda is yet to decide which party it would support in the Ellenabad byelections in Haryana scheduled for January 20. In the Vidhan Sabha elections held a few months ago,the Dera had extended support to the Congress in some constituencies,although initially it had proposed to contest the elections on its own. Talking to The Indian Express,Ram Pal,head of the political wing of the Dera,said they will hold a meeting next week to discuss the issue of extending support to any party. He declined to confirm if any leader from any party has approached them. It is too early now as elections are almost a fortnight away. We have enough time to deliberate on the issue, said Ram Pal. He said the Dera would weigh the candidate and his party before deciding upon extending support. We will see which party or candidate could be more useful for the development of the region and society, he said. Support of the Dera has often proved crucial to the fortunes of parties both in Haryana and Punjab during elections. Keeping this in mind,the Congress held a meeting in Sirsa three days ago to discuss the issue. Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar,Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana,Working President of the HPCC Kuldeep Sharma,Congress candidate from Ellenabad,Bharat Singh Beniwal,former Finance Minister Professor Sampat Singh,President of Haryana Vyapar Mandal Bajrang Das Garg,former OSD to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,Dr K V Singh,former MLA Maniram Keharwala,former Irrigation Minister Jagdish Nehra and other leaders were present at the meeting. According to sources,it was decided to seek support of the Deras in Sirsa,including Dera Sacha Sauda,Dera Namdhari and Dera Bhummanshah for the bypolls in Ellenabad. Meanwhile,both the Indian National Lok Dal and the Congress have undertaken hectic campaigning in Ellenabad. Exuding confidence,INLD candidate Abhay Singh Chautala said: I am a clear winner and this has made the Congress desperate. Our campaign has gone on exceedingly well. The Congress is nowhere in the picture. Expressing satisfaction over the transfer of Sirsa SP Subhash Yadav,who was transferred by the Election Commission after INLD registered a complaint before the EC accusing him and two other officers of favouring Congress,Chautala said the order had vindicated their stand that his presence could influence voters in favour of Congress. The other two officers,Divisional Commissioner of Hisar B S Malik and Sirsa DC Yudhvir Singh Khyaliya should also be removed immediately, said Chautala.
