CR Patil and Nitin Nabin’s visits to Punjab on the card, BJP wants most out of Guru Ravidas Jayanti

From a 2,558-km outreach campaign to mark the 650th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas to discussions around prospective candidates to seat-sharing in the event of an alliance with the SAD, the BJP has a hectic week ahead in the poll-bound Punjab, with two senior national leaders visiting the state to give momentum to preparedness for the Assembly elections.

BJP’s Punjab election in-charge and Union minister CR Patil will visit Chandigarh on November 17 to hold meetings with the state executive committee. BJP national president Nitin Nabin will visit Ballan village in Jalandhar on November 18 to flag off a 2,558-km “Samrasta Sankalp Yatra”, which will culminate at Guru Ravidas’s birthplace in Seer Govardhanpur, Varanasi, on December 3.

Patil’s visit is expected to focus on strengthening the party’s organisational structure ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, but discussions around prospective candidates and the possibility of seat-sharing in the event of an alliance with the SAD are also likely to figure in his deliberations, according to party sources.

Nabin’s visit, meanwhile, will mark the beginning of a major religious and social outreach by the BJP, with the yatra scheduled to cover seven states and 46 cities. In Punjab, it will travel through 16 places between November 18 and 23, taking the party’s outreach to several constituencies.

Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said the yatra would cover Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Mukerian, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Barnala, Rupnagar, Mohali and Chandigarh.

Invitations are being circulated among people in these cities, in which Dhillon says: “We invite you to participate in this yatra, become part of the celebrations and help spread the message of social harmony, equality, brotherhood and humanity. We seek your support in taking Guru Ravidas Maharaj Ji’s message to every person.”

Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sarin said, “The yatra will begin from Ballan village, Pathankot Road, Jalandhar, on November 18 and will culminate at Shri Guru Ravidas Maharaj Ji’s sacred birthplace at Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi on December 3 after covering seven states, 46 cities and a distance of 2,558 kilometres. Our national president Nitin Nabin will flag off the yatra.”\

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Sarin said the yatra would take Guru Ravidas’s message of equality, devotion and humanity to every part of the country.

The outreach assumes political significance in Punjab, which has around 32 per cent Scheduled Caste population. The party is also looking to connect with Guru Ravidas’ followers in Uttar Pradesh, another state heading towards Assembly elections in 2027.

The “Samrasta Sankalp Yatra” will be the BJP’s second major pan-Punjab outreach exercise in recent months after the Nasha Mukt Yatra held from September 18 to 30.

In the first week of August, the BJP had organised Kalash Yatras at its district headquarters. Soil brought from Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi by party leaders was distributed among district committees and followers across the state as part of the preparations for the celebrations of the 650th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas.

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An alliance with the SAD is still in limbo, despite several senior BJP leaders, including Sunil Jakhar and Capt Amarinder Singh, openly advocating for it. However, a section of Punjab BJP leaders is against it.

“It doesn’t matter who is against the alliance. If the leadership in Delhi finalises the alliance, they will have to abide by it. We are focusing on strengthening the organisation, because the decision about an alliance rests with the leadership in Delhi,” a senior BJP leader said, requesting anonymity.