Out on parole, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Sunday junked speculations about anyone emerging as his likely successor to head the Sirsa-headquartered sect.
The sect chief said this was only a media speculation, and that he is, was, and will continue to head the sect, which has a large number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
For the past several days Ram Rahim has been holding online discourses from his Barnawa ashram in UP, which have been attended by scores of his followers including many Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Haryana too.
On Sunday, BJP's Jind MLA Krishan Lal Middha joined an online Satsang in his constituency along with scores of other Dera followers.
The dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping his two disciples, had recently come out of Sunaria jail on a 40-day parole after which he went to the Barnawa ashram.
On Sunday too, he addressed his followers and spoke about festivals.
In a video of the event, before touching upon the succession issue, Dera Sacha Sauda chief spoke about how our festivals are celebrated and what was their original significance.
He also addressed the gathering on how we celebrate these festivals now with the change in times.
Speaking on Diwali eve, he also appealed to the people to not purchase sweets from the markets, but make them at home.
As he said this, he also preempted any criticism from sweets shop owners saying, "these days one doesn't know who will take exception to what one says."
Asserting that he will continue to head the sect, the 55-year-old Dera head said that in several of his letters he has emphasised this.
".. 100 per cent, 1,000 per cent, 1 lakh per cent," he said, clearly to stress his continuing supremacy over the sect.
He also accused the media of continuing to speculate about the leadership of the sect, including the possibility of his adopted daughter Honeypreet Insan taking over its reins.
"They say they came to know this through 'sources'. But I don't know who these unknown sources are. Where does this creature called sources live? They just write quoting these sources. Our fourth pillar (of democracy), don't take it otherwise. But what is this? I wrote about it in so many letters in my own handwriting..," he said.
His forceful reaffirmation of him being the supreme leader of the sect was met with approval by his followers who raised their hands in the air to show it.
Ram Rahim also indicated that Honeypreet will continue to be in whatever role in the Dera setup she is at present, and added "may she get more happiness".
"With you, she serves humanity by doing welfare works. She listens to her Papa and her Guru (himself) and then says whatever she has to say, but she does not say anything on her own. But you (media) still feel this or that ... So, accept the reality as it is," he said.
"Everyone knows her name is Honeypreet, she is my chief disciple," he also said.
"I have also given her a name and now I call her Ruh-Di or Ruhani Didi because everyone used to say Guru ji everyone calls her didi didi and they confuse this with other women disciples," he added.
The dera chief is holding only online satsangs from the dera's Barnawa ashram in Baghpat.
Ram Rahim was last year also convicted along with four others for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a dera manager.
He, along with three others, were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.
