Political Hint In Punjab Dera Chief's Visit To Akali's Bikram Majithia In Jail

Jailed Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia – granted bail by the Supreme Court Monday afternoon in a disproportionate assets case arising from a probe into a 2021 drugs case – received support from Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon, head of the influential Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Dhillon met him in Nabha Jail in Punjab's Patiala district the day before. And, after the meeting, he stressed categorically that the "allegations of drug peddling (againat) Majithia are false".

The visit was framed as a private interaction between family members; Akali Dal MLA Ganieve Kaur is Majithia's wife is a relative of the Dera chief.

The context and optics, however, tell a different story, one with loaded political subtext.

First, the visit itself is unprecedented. Dhillon has, so far, maintained a low-profile and a public image anchored around the spiritual rather than political.

As the most influential Dera chief in Punjab, commanding a following that runs into lakhs, any public action is closely watched. His decision to meet Majithia in jail, therefore, was a departure from norm. It has been seen as a calibrated signal to followers and political actors alike.

The scale and reach of the RSSB amplify the significance of this gesture.

Spread across nearly 3,000 acres in Beas, with thousands of branches around the world, it functions as a powerful socio-religious institution with deep roots in Punjab's social fabric.

Officially it claims political neutrality but its influence over large swathes of voter in multiple constituencies has long made it an object of political attention.

That attention has intensified during election cycles.

Senior political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have visited the Dera in recent years, reinforcing perceptions of the RSSB as a space where political legitimacy and mass influence intersect. Dhillon's meetings with the Prime Minister in 2022 further contributed to the view that the Dera leadership enjoys access to the highest levels of power.

Against this backdrop – and with an Assembly election due next year – the Dhillon-Majithia meeting has revived speculation about a role for the former as a 'political interlocutor'.

In the past, Dhillon's perceived proximity to the central government led to conjecture about back-channel talks between the Akalis and the ruling BJP; this was back in 2020, when the Punjab party quit the BJP-ruled national alliance to protest the three controversial farm laws.

The present gesture, while not explicitly political, is likely to be read as a signal of alignment, reassurance, or mediation at a time when political realignments in Punjab remain fluid.