Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a Rs 100-crore temple dedicated to 14th-century poet and social reformer Sant Ravidas in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district, where he will also address a public meeting later in the day. This is his second visit to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, where assembly polls are slated to be held by the year-end, in just over a month.
The Prime Minister also unveiled the model of the Sant Ravidas Temple in Sagar.
Earlier, on July 1, PM Modi interacted with tribal leaders and women who were members of self-help groups at Pakaria village in Shahdol district.
Sant Ravidas enjoys a nationwide following, especially among a section of the Dalit community.
The two programmes will also mark the end of the BJP's ongoing 'Samrasta (harmony) Yatras' which are regarded as an attempt by the saffron party to reach out to Dalits ahead of the crucial assembly polls, news agency PTI reported.
Five such yatras began in different parts of Madhya Pradesh on July 25.
The ruling BJP is making attempts to strengthen its support among Dalits. Earlier, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government built a Rs 3.5-crore Sant Ravidas Temple in the holy town of Maihar in Satna district.
Sant Ravidas is one of the most renowned figures of the bhakti movement in medieval India and his Dalit followers form the largest chunk of the SC population in Madhya Pradesh.
In the 2018 polls, The BJP had put up a good show in the impoverished Bundelkhand region consisting of six districts - Sagar, Chattarpur, Tikamgarh, Niwari, Damoh, and Panna. It accounts for 26 assembly seats.