The BJP has included Sunil Sangwan, a former prison official who authorised six paroles for Dera Sacha Sauda leader and convicted rapist Ram Rahim, in its list of candidates for the next month’s Haryana Assembly polls. Sangwan will run for the Dadri seat, earlier held by former BJP member Somveer Sangwan, who won as an independent in 2019 after the party chose wrestler Babita Phogat over him. Phogat is already campaigning for the polls.

Somveer Sangwan, one of three independent MLAs who supported Congress during the turmoil in the state that led to Manohar Lal Khattar’s resignation as Chief Minister, is expected to join Congress if he gets the Dadri ticket.

Sunil Sangwan, who recently stepped down as a jail officer, made it to the BJP’s first list of 67 candidates, according to NDTV. He is the son of former minister Satpal Sangwan, who left the Congress two months ago to join the BJP.

His application for voluntary retirement from the post of superintendent at the Gurugram district jail was approved in a jiffy by the Haryana government on Sunday. The director general (DG) of prisons sent an email to all jail superintendents in the state directing them to issue ‘no-due’ certificates the same day.

Ram Rahim received a 21-day furlough last month, his 10th in the past four years, amid criticism that his temporary releases mostly coincide with state or local elections. Six of his paroles were when Sangwan was superintendent of the jail where the Dera chief was kept.

The Dera chief, who has a substantial following in Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, was granted a 50-day parole in January, just weeks before the general election. He was also released for three weeks in November last year, right before the Rajasthan election.

As the BJP aims for a third consecutive Assembly victory in Haryana, the fight isn’t going to be easy especially after the opposition’s strong performance in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. The Congress won five of Haryana’s 10 Lok Sabha seats, aided by an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party as part of the INDIA bloc. Both parties are negotiating a similar arrangement for the state assembly election, following Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s call for collaboration to challenge the BJP.

The Haryana Assembly elections for all 90 seats are set for October 5, with votes being counted on October 8.