The country’s President Draupadi Murmu honored three personalities from Punjab with Padma Shri yesterday. Those receiving the honor include hockey coach Baldev Singh, Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Sant Niranjan Das. The name of Sant Niranjan Das is being discussed a lot in the political circles of Punjab. His political influence is a big reason behind this.
Sant Niranjan Das is the head of Dera Sachkhand located in Ballan near Jalandhar, Punjab. On February 1 this year, on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, PM Modi had reached this camp. This Dera has a good influence on many assembly seats of Punjab and many politicians try to sail their electoral boat by taking blessings from the Dera chief. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and many opposition leaders have reached this camp.
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Why is it so important?
Dera Sachkhand is a major center of Ravidassia community in Punjab. Ravidassia community is very important in the politics of Punjab. The dominance of Ravidassia community is highest in Doaba region. The population of Dalit community in Punjab is about 32 percent and the largest number among them is of Ravidassia community. Before the 2022 elections, Congress had removed Captain Amarinder Singh and made Charanjit Singh Channi, who comes from the Ravidassia community, the CM. The votes of Ravidasia community can play a decisive role in Punjab, especially in the Doaba region.
Benefits will be available in Doaba
Bharatiya Janata Party in Punjab is giving a lot of importance to this camp. Apart from this, by now honoring the Dera chief with Padma Shri, BJP is trying to make a place in the hearts of the people of this community. First PM Modi coming here and then honoring Saint Niranjan Das is being considered a part of BJP’s strategy to increase its influence in the Doaba region.
The Dalit community has a significant hold in the four districts of Doaba belt and there are 23 assembly seats in this region and out of these 9 seats are reserved. According to the 2011 census, 52.08 lakh people live in this region. Of these, 19.48 lakh people are Dalits and these include 11.88 lakh Ravidas, 4.56 lakh Valmikis and 3.04 lakh other Dalit communities. Dera Sachkhand Ballan has a lot of influence in the Ravidassia community.
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BJP’s strategy
Bharatiya Janata Party is dreaming of victory in Punjab through social equations. The party is also trying to get votes from the Hindu community as well as the Sikh community and other communities. Under this strategy, the party is associating the Ravidassia community with itself. Along with this, efforts are also being made to include the OBC community. For this, the responsibility has been imposed on the CM of Haryana, who himself comes from the OBC community. He has been active in Punjab for the last several months.
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