Today in Politics: As PM Modi arrives in Varanasi, why the focus is on celebrating Sant Ravidas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to his constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on Friday to address a range of programmes and to lay the foundation stone of projects worth more than Rs 13,000 crore.

With weeks to go before the Lok Sabha election schedule is expected to be out, Modi has been unveiling and inaugurating development projects at an almost lightning speed. In the past seven days, he has visited Haryana, Sambhal in UP, Jammu, and Gujarat to launch and unveil projects worth thousands of crores and bolster his “vikas purush (pro-development leader)” image.

The PM is first scheduled to participate in a prize distribution programme for the winners of a Sansad Sanskrit Pratiyogita at Banaras Hindu University. Then, at 11.15 am, Modi is scheduled to perform pooja at Sant Guru Ravidas Janmasthali. Next, he will attend a public function commemorating the 647th birth anniversary of Sant Guru Ravidas who enjoys a massive following among Dalits and who has been one of the historical figures the BJP has strategically celebrated over the years. Then he will inaugurate a newly installed statue of Sant Ravidas at the Ravidas Park. He will also lay the foundation stone of a Sant Ravidas Museum and the beautification project of the Sant Ravidas Park.

Around 1.30 pm, Modi will visit a milk processing unit of the Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd, followed by a public function where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of the development projects.

In context: The PM and the BJP’s focus on Sant Ravidas is nothing new. In 2022, the PM visited a Ravidas temple in Delhi and participated in a kirtan. Last August, ahead of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh in November, Modi unveiled a