By Arvind Chaturvedi
From carrying soil in 131 pots from Varanasi, the birthplace of Saint Ravidas, to organizing a ‘Samrasta Yatra’ (Harmony Journey) from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party is set to launch a seven-month Dalit outreach campaign across 27 states as part of the 650th birth anniversary celebrations of the great 15th-century saint-poet. The command of this campaign has been entrusted to BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, who has set up camp in Banaras. The BJP is going to celebrate the 650th birth anniversary of Saint Ravidas across the entire country.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP National President will inaugurate the “Shri Guru Ravidas Maharaj Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan” on July 29 from Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi, the birthplace of Saint Ravidas. They will address a Samrasta Sankalp Sabha, for which the party has directed the gathering of a crowd of 25,000 people. The BJP will organize ‘Deepotsav’ (Festival of Lights), Guruvani recitations, ‘Bhajan Sandhya’ (Evening of Devotional Songs), and ‘Samrasta Sankalp’ at Saint Ravidas temples across the country. This campaign is scheduled to conclude on February 20, 2027.
Purpose of the Yatra and Political Background:
Although party leaders have officially denied any connection between this yatra and the assembly elections in five states scheduled for early 2027, sources say this is the first time such a campaign has been designed to reach the followers of Saint Ravidas (Ravidasias).
Impact Area: Ravidasias have a significant presence in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Both states will hold elections early next year.
Yatra Route: The journey will begin on October 5 from Jalandhar in Punjab and will pass through Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh before concluding in Varanasi on November 5. The yatra will halt in villages and small towns — particularly Dalit-majority areas — where public meetings will be organized.
Hostel Contact Campaign: Another important component of this campaign will be the “Shri Guru Ravidas Maharaj Chhatravas Sampark Abhiyan,” which will run from November 26 to January 15, 2027. BJP leaders will reach out to Scheduled Caste (SC) students living in hostels in Uttar Pradesh and other states. This outreach program is significant in light of recent protests against paper leaks, in which a large number of Dalit youth participated. The BJP also aims to curb the growing popularity of Azad Samaj Party leader and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad among Dalit youth.
Statistics and Political Equations:
Uttar Pradesh: Dalits constitute 21% of the state’s population, and 84 out of 403 assembly seats are reserved for this community. In the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) together won 63 SC seats, while the then Samajwadi Party-led alliance won 20 seats.
Punjab: Where 32% of the population is Dalit, 34 out of 117 assembly seats are reserved for SCs. In 2022, the BJP failed to win a single seat.
Doaba Region: Ravidasia is a Dalit community, the majority of whom — over 12 lakh — are estimated to live in Punjab’s Doaba region, which includes the districts of Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr, and Jalandhar. Given the role of Dalits in the politics of UP and Punjab, the BJP’s campaign for Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 20 has special focus on this Hindi-belt state, where 104 pots filled with soil from Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi will be taken to every village, while another 27 pots will be taken to various states.
Suman Kumar Das — Press Secretary of the All India Ravidasia Dharma Organization — said, “We will be happy because the BJP, in whichever states it is present — whether it is Rajasthan, UP, or Haryana along with Delhi — all four governments have decided that at the national and state level, we will celebrate Saint Ravidas Ji’s birth anniversary throughout the year.” Suman Kumar told Tahleka in an interview that the Central Government is celebrating Saint Ravidas Ji’s birth anniversary across the entire country, and we appreciate that. All governments should do this, just as the BJP is doing.
BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said, “A decision has been made to celebrate the 650th birth anniversary year of Guru Ravidas Ji as the Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan. Starting from the sacred Guru Purnima day, that is, July 29, 2026, and running for nearly seven months until February 20, 2027, which is Guru Ravidas Ji’s birth anniversary, a national campaign named Sant Shiromani Shri Guru Ravidas Ji Maharaj Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan will be conducted…
