THE entire country witnessed the collapse of governance will in the events leading to the conviction and sentencing of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. And a day after he earned two decades in prison, another self-proclaimed godman Rampal was arraigned before the court. He was acquitted for allegedly masterminding a spell of riotous frenzy by his supporters in a case whose denouement is also close. For that matter, though Ram Rahim was convicted of a charge that involved betraying the trust of vulnerable women, he too will shortly be arraigned for charges of murder. The only difference between the two godmen, both of whom ran veritable empires that brooked no challenge to their suzerainty, was that Rampal wasn’t charged with grave moral turpitude.But what was common between the two was that for all their teachings about egalitarianism and piety, they had assumed that their empyrean status among their apostles would grant them immunity from the temporal world of rules and regulations outside their dera gates. Once that was not to be, there is tacit encouragement to the bereft followers to go on a riotous frenzy. Another common element behind the travails of both self-anointed saints was the strange radio silence from politicians. The televised spectacle in the run-up to Ram Rahim’s sentencing was tailor-made for politicians to weigh in. Rarely has the political class willingly passed up an opportunity to insert itself in an event that had the whole country riveted.The politician is ever-willing to overlook indiscretions by the Babas because of the nature of the battle for votes where only the winner matters. Very few contestants, mostly those in it for a token contest, are loath to allow even a single unsolicited vote to escape their grasp. The Babas, with a complete sway over lakhs of followers, are a temptation a politician can hardly overlook. The politician is willing to let matters rest and wait for another day, perhaps when the Baba walks free, rather than risk antagonising his captive vote bank by taking a stand. Principles can wait for another day.