Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled February 1 visit to Dera Sachkhand Ballan to meet its head Sant Niranjan Dass has brought the Ravidassia community back into the spotlight.The visit has the potential to set the proverbial cat among the pigeons in the poll-bound state.With the election-bound Punjab having nearly 34 per cent Dalit population, the visit has forced the BJP’s political opponents to take note – with many seeing it as the saffron party’s foray into the Dalit vote-bank that holds sway in the election that will take place a year from now, although it seems the bugle has already been sounded.Party insiders say the visit signifies a serious attempt by the BJP to reach out to the Dalit community that has been playing a decisive role in the politics of Punjab, especially in the Ravidassia-dominated Doaba belt. The visit comes in the wake of the Padma Shri being announced for Sant Niranjan Dass.Incidentally, former chief minister Charanjit Channi, also the MP from Jalandhar, had won his seat in the 2024 general election by a huge margin of 1.24 lakh votes. The Dalit Ravidassia vote-bank has traditionally been seen to be advantageous to the Congress before AAP came into power following the 2022 Assembly election.Hours before The Tribune’s exclusive story on the PM renaming the Adampur Civil Airport after Guru Ravidass on his 649th birth anniversary, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday also put out a tweet making the same request to the PM.“The honourable PM will be visiting Jalandhar on February 1 and his flight will land at the Adampur airport on the day. I request the PM to name the airport after Guru Ravidas. I, on behalf, of the entire Punjab, will extend him a heartfelt gratitude,” he said.BJP leader Avinash Chander, who is playing a key role between the party and the dera, on Wednesday reached out to the dera to finalise the planning for the PM’s visit. Sant Niranjan Dass is set to leave for Varanasi on Thursday boarding a special train of devotees from Jalandhar City railway station.The practice to take a special train of devotees from Jalandhar to Varanasi had started under him in 2000 — the train is called the Begumpura Express. The utopian place ‘Begumpura’ (land without sorrow) was imagined by Sant Ravidass in his poetry as a state which would have a casteless, classless and untouchability-free society.Who are Ravidassias?The followers of Sant Ravidass, a Bhakti movement poet-saint and revolutionary sage born in 1377 in Varanasi, are called Ravidassias. Historically, most of them were engaged in tanning and making leather goods. While earlier, they were considered a part of a sect of Sikhism, Ravidassia was announced a separate religion in 2010 by Dera Sachkhand Ballan. Amritbani was its holy scripture with 240 hymns of Guru Ravidass in it and ‘Har’ insignia its holy symbol.The announcement was made after Sant Niranjan Dass had survived an attack on him during his visit to Vienna in 2009. His deputy, Sant Ramanand Dass, however, was not so fortunate. This had triggered massive protests and riots in Jalandhar and the periphery for over four days.Reservation policies in education, jobs and political set-up added to the growth of the Ravidassia community. Punjab got its first Ravidassia chief minister in 2021 when Charanjit Channi took charge. Ravidassia political stalwarts in the past include Kanshi Ram, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.About Dera Sachkhand BallanDera Sachkhand Ballan is the main spiritual centre of the Ravidassia community located off the Jalandhar-Pathankot road at Ballan village. It was founded in 1900 by Sant Pipal Dass. Sant Niranjan Dass is the fifth chief of the dera, occupying the seat since 1994. The dera had expanded much under Sant Sarwan Dass, who had founded a hospital for those who could not afford treatment. He also set up more affiliated deras and educational institutes.Sant Sarwan Dass’s successor, Garib Dass, also set up another popular centre of Dera Sachkhand at Adda Kathar on Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur road. Sant Niranjan Dass further continued with expansion plans setting up a school in Phagwara and an eye hospital at Ballan. He has travelled far and wide reaching out to the community settled abroad.Under him, the dera has grown by leaps and bounds. He has demanded naming of Ravidassia as a separate religion even in the caste census. “For years, we have been mentioned as Sikhs or Hindus or Buddhists in the census as there is no separate column for Ravidassias. We want our separate count and do not wish to be listed in the ‘others’ column, say dera officials, admitting that they have been making representations to the Centre.Sant Niranjan Dass also heads the Guru Ravidass Janam Asthan at Seer Govardhanpur in Varanasi, the constituency of PM Modi. He has been seeking allotment of more land from the PM there for expanding the temple.‘Move to benefit BJP’Former Panjab University dean Prof Ronki Ram says, “The move of the PM to visit Dera Ballan will benefit the saffron party in the Punjab election. The announcement of Padma Shri for Sant Niranjan Dass, too, will have a far-reaching effect in favour of the party. The dera has worked a lot for the uplift of the community and to popularise the concept of ‘sewa’.”