PM Modi to visit Dera Ballan in Jalandhar on Feb 1 on occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar on February 1 on the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti. The visit is being considered politically significant in Punjab, where the Assembly elections are due in a year.

Confirming the visit, Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu said the PM would reach the dera at 4 pm on February 1 after attending the Budget session in Parliament in the morning.

The PM’s visit will coincide with the 649th Guru Ravidas Jayanti. In the past few years, the PM has been travelling to Seer Govardhan, the birthplace of Guru Ravidas in Varanasi, which falls in his constituency. The PM's upcoming visit to Dera Ballan, one of the most revered places for the Ravidassia community in Punjab, on Ravidas Jayanti itself, is significant because Ravidassias are mostly Dalits and Sikhs — a good number are Hindus as well. The Dalits account for as much as 34 per cent of Punjab’s population. The opportunity to influence this sizeable vote is clearly too important to let pass, analysts said.

In the run-up to the Assembly election, it is clear the PM and the BJP will do everything to put their best foot forward. In fact, the head of Dera Ballan, Sant Niranjan Dass, was chosen for the Padam Shri for the year on the last Sunday.

The Padma Shri to the dera head follows a meeting held about two months ago with the PM in New Delhi. At the time, Sant Niranjan Dass was accompanied by several BJP leaders, like state general secretary Tarun Chugh, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Avinash Chander and former Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla. Sant Niranjan Dass heads the religious places in Varanasi as well as in the Ballan dera. Every year on the eve of Ravidas Jayanti, Sant Niranjan Dass and nearly 2,000 devotees take a special train to Varanasi. This year, the train will be flagged off on January 29. However, this time he may board the train and fly back to Ballan to be present during the PM's visit here.

BJP leaders say they are expecting a big announcement to be made by the PM during his visit. "The PM may also name the airport in Adampur after Guru Ravidas," said a former BJP MP. The fact that the PM's visit now precedes that of Home Minister Amit Shah on February 22 has caused excitement in the party.

Followers of Guru Ravidas have been demanding that elaborate arrangements be made for the 650th Guru Ravidas Jayanti next year. "With his visit, the PM will kick-start the year-long celebrations," Avinash Chander said.

The Aam Aadmi Party-led state government too has been planning a big splash, including a state-level function on February 1. AAP also has plans to acquire 12 acres to set up the Guru Ravidas Research Centre near the dera. The announcement for the research centre had first been made by former Chief Minister Charanjit Channi of the Congress.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also expected to visit the "tapo sthan" of Guru Ravidas at Khuralgarh in Hoshiarpur on February 6 where 151-foot tall Minar-e-Begampura is set to be unveiled. Deputy Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Jai Krishan Rouri had also laid the stone of a bridge connecting the minar with the tapo sthan. "The bridge will come up at a cost of Rs 3.7 crore," he said.

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Courtesy: The Tribune -28-Jan-2026