Jalandhar, Nov 13: Stepping up its political campaign in election-bound Punjab, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will see party president Nitin Nabin visit Jalandhar on November 18 to flag off the Samrasta Yatra. Organised to commemorate the 650th birth anniversary of 15th-century Bhakti saint Sant Guru Ravidas, the yatra represents a major political outreach aimed at a prominent Scheduled Caste segment.
According to a top BJP source, the march will commence near Dera Sachkhand Ballan—the spiritual epicentre of the Ravidassia community located in Ballan village near Jalandhar—where Nabin will flag off the procession and address a massive gathering. Over the course of its journey, the yatra will traverse 46 cities across seven states and Union Territories—Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh—before concluding in Varanasi on December 5.
The Ravidassia community, a significant Dalit socio-religious group in Punjab following the teachings of Guru Ravidas, holds considerable electoral weight as a political swing bloc. Dera Sachkhand Ballan, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited recently, remains the community’s largest and most influential institution, playing a pivotal role in its religious identity, social welfare, and political mobilisation.
