Ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday met the chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon at Beas, around 45 km from Amritsar.
Shah, who was in Punjab on Wednesday for a poll rally, took to Twitter to share the information about the meeting.
“Today met Radha Soami Satsang chief Baba Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon.
“The work being done by Radha Soami Satsang Beas for humanity and social service by continuously awakening spiritual consciousness in the society for decades, is wonderful and inspiring in itself,” Shah tweeted in Punjabi.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Gurinder Singh Dhillon in Delhi and had praised the Radha Soami Satsang chief for its social service.
Radha Soami Satsang Beas enjoys a considerable following in Punjab.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here, and termed it a photocopy of the Congress.
Addressing a poll rally in Punjab’s Pathankot, he said farming, trade and industry will be made profitable in five years if the BJP-led alliance is voted to power in the state. Punjab goes to polls on February 20.
“Give me five years to serve you. I assure you farming, trade, industry will be made profitable,” Modi said at a poll rally in Pathankot.
Modi on Wednesday offered prayers at the ‘Shri Guru Ravidas Vishram Dham Mandir’ in Karol Bagh here on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti.
The mystic poet enjoys a nationwide following, especially among a section of the Dalits.
Guru Ravidas Jayanti is a festival which is popular among Dalits in Punjab, who constitute more than 30 per cent of the state’s population.
PM Modi tweeted about his visit to the revered philosopher’s temple.
Sant Ravidas belonged to the bhakti movement during the 15th and 16th century and his hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
He is considered the founder of the 21st century Ravidassia religion.
Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated on Magh Purnima, which is the full moon day of the Magh month as per the Hindu calendar.
The Election Commission (EC) deferred Punjab elections, originally scheduled for February 14, by a week to February 20 in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.
The state government and several political parties had urged the EC to do so as lakhs of followers of Guru Ravidas travel to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the day.
The parties had said that several followers of Guru Ravidas would not be able to exercise their franchise on February 14 as they would be travelling.
The Union government has accorded the central VIP security cover of armed paramilitary commandos to close to two dozen BJP leaders in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, including the “Z” category security cover to Union minister S P S Baghel, the party candidate against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.
Some candidates in these two states have been provided security till the poll process ends, they added.
Some of the protectees will have the central cover over and above their state police security.
The Union home ministry has tasked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to render the task.
Both the paramilitary forces have their exclusive VIP security wings of commandos, who possess sophisticated close-protection weapons.
The Punjab Assembly has a total of 117 seats, with 59 being the majority mark.
The 117 constituencies in Punjab are spread over three regions – Majha (25 constituencies), Doaba (23) and Malwa (69). In the 2017 Punjab elections, the Congress came to power with 77 seats, while the AAP delivered a surprising 20 seats.
Ousted from power, the Shiromani Akali Dal won 15 seats and its then alliance partner, the BJP, won three.
The Punjab election results 2022 will be declared on March 10 (Thursday) when counting of votes in the state takes place along with four other poll-bound states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
