In a major Dalit outreach ahead of the 2027 election cycle in five states, including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, BJP national president Nitin Nabin has hailed the life and teachings of Sant Ravidas and said the seer’s ideals saved Sanatan traditions amid foreign invasions.Nabin recalled the teachings of Guru Ravidas to make a strong anti-conversion pitch — one of the five election planks the BJP will follow in Punjab, where the party has raised serious concerns over “growing conversions”.“At the time of foreign invasions in India and amid large-scale attempts at religious conversion, Guru Ravidas’ values and struggles helped protect Indian society and its Sanatan traditions,” Nabin said while marking Samrasta Sankalp Diwas here yesterday as part of celebrations ahead of Guru Ravidas’ 650th birth anniversary.The highlight of the event was the launch of a campaign to carry the sacred soil from Guru Ravidas’ birthplace in Varanasi to various parts of Delhi. A similar campaign is underway in poll-bound Punjab, which is home to Dera Ballan, the largest and most influential spiritual centre of the Ravidassia community in India.The significance of the community to the BJP was evident when Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose the chief of Dera Sadhkhand Ballan, Niranjan Dass, for a one-on-one meeting during his visit to Punjab in July.The BJP event at Talkatora Stadium was an extension of the party’s ongoing Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan in Punjab, where the “Kalash Yatra” carrying soil from Seer Goverdhanpur in Varanasi entered Punjab through Lalru on August 1.State party leaders received the urns, which are now being taken across the state. Delhi BJP leaders also received the urns today and will take them across Delhi.As a strong social group in Punjab, the Ravidassias form a major part of the state’s large Dalit population. Dalits account for 32 per cent of Punjab’s population, the highest proportion in India.Nabin also used the occasion to praise Vande Mataram, days after the Congress resolved to sing only two stanzas of the National Song.Attacking the Congress for insulting Vande Mataram, Nabin said the National Song united every Indian in the fight against colonial rule.“The soil of our country has such strength that it has changed the minds of people like Lodi and Sikandar. India’s soil will also transform the minds of those who are insulting Vande Mataram today,” Nabin said.