Jalandhar: The body of Sant Ramanand, who was killed in Vienna, was brought to the Dera headquarters near Jalandhar in Punjab. Thousands of followers as well as political leaders headed for the Dera. UP Chief Minister Mayawati too thought it was an opportunity to make a case for social engineering in Punjab as well.
A galaxy of politicians came for Sant Ramanand, a man till recently only known in a few parts of Punjab
On Thursday, thousands of his followers, mainly Dalits, paid tributes. Political parties were in attendance to woo this sizeable vote bank. Especially, since there are forthcoming by-polls to 2 Assembly seats.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister's Sukhbir Badal needs to be elected from one of these seats to continue in his post.
Said Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal: "This is a big loss to Punjab. The Sant worked for peace and harmony in the state. We've written to the Centre that they should find the culprits."
Former chief minister Amarinder Singh said: "First we had Dera Sacha Sauda and now we have this problem. This government is incompetent."
Mayawati made an appearance as well. Punjab has been on her radar for quite some time now. She visited the Dera during the brief visit, but made all the right noises.
"I have written to the prime minister that they should do something. There should be some assurance to our people... the guilty should be punished," the UP Chief Minister said.
A few days back, very few people knew Sant Ramanand. On Thursday, he was accorded a state funeral. Parkash Singh Badal clearly wanted to send a message that he cares for the Dalit community in Punjab.
But his competition is not just with the Congress party in the state, but also BSP supremo Mayawati. The only silver lining in this political race is that Punjab is back to normal.