Bhopal:Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on August 12 lay the foundation stone for a Rs 100-crore temple dedicated to 14th century mystic poet and social reformer Sant Ravidas in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district, where he will also address a public meeting ahead of assembly polls, a state BJP minister said on Monday.
This will be PM's second visit to the BJP-ruled state, where assembly polls are due by the year-end, in just over a month. On July 1, Modi interacted with tribal leaders, women who were members of self-help groups and young football players at Pakaria village in Shahdol district.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expecting up to 2 lakh people to attend the PM's rally and the foundation laying ceremony for the temple in Sagar dedicated to Sant Ravidas, who enjoys a nationwide following, especially among a section of Dalits.
The two programmes will also mark the culmination of the ruling party's ongoing 'Samrasta (harmony) Yatras', seen as an attempt by the saffron outfit to reach out to Dalits ahead of the polls. Five such yatras started from different parts of the state on July 25. The participants are bringing handful of soil from 53,000 villages and water from 315 water bodies, including sacred rivers. The yatra will reach Sagar on August 11 evening, MP Cooperative and Public Services Minister Arvind Bhadoria told PTI over the phone.
Between 1.50 lakh and 2 lakh people are expected at the public meeting and the foundation laying function, he said. The BJP has taken out the yatras to connect with different sections of society, especially Dalits. MP has 35 assembly seats, of the total 230, reserved for Scheduled Castes and of these, the BJP won 18 in the last elections, while the Congress bagged 17. Another BJP leader said the main aim of the yatras is to promote social harmony and amity.