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PM leads tributes to 15th century saint-poet Ravidas, a Dalit icon
Ravidas Jayanti 2022: The Prime Minister was seen offering tributes to the 15th century saint at a temple in the national capital’s Karol Bagh and also took part in kirtan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led tributes this morning to 15th century poet-saint Guru Ravidas, a Dalit icon, on his birth anniversary - the occasion that last month had prompted the Election Commission to push the state polls in Punjab from February 14 to February 20.
The Prime Minister was seen offering tributes to the 15th century saint at a temple in the national capital’s Karol Bagh. In a statement yesterday, PM Modi had said he “feels proud that every step taken by his government has imbibed the spirit” of the saint. A video this morning also showed him taking part in a ‘kirtan’.
Guru Ravidas Jayanti is hugely popular among Dalits – that constitutes about 30 per cent of population in Punjab.
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was also among the leaders who offered their respects. “On the occasion of Sri Guru Ravidas Jayanti, paid obeisance at Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan mandir in Varanasi. Let us imbibe his teachings of love, compassion, mutual tolerance and oneness of mankind,” the Punjab CM tweeted.
In Uttar Pradesh too, where Dalits form about 20 per cent of the population, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remembered the Dalit icon. The state is also voting in seven phases in the February-March elections.
In his tweet, Yogi Adityanath took a swipe at the opposition using the “double engine” dig- which the rivals have used to refer to the BJP government at the centre and the state.
“Today, in Varanasi, on the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, I will be participating in the ‘Seer Govardhan’ karyakram. Under the leadership of PM Modi, the double engine government is dedicated towards the development of the saint’s birthplace,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are also in Varanasi to mark the occasion.
