Chandigarh, July 29 -- With the Punjab assembly elections scheduled early next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a statewide outreach programme to woo the Scheduled Caste (SC) community under the banner of 'Samrasta Sankalp Abhiyan', coinciding with the 650th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas.

The campaign, which begins on July 29 (Guru Purnima) and will continue till February 20, 2027 (Magha Purnima), is being seen as the saffron party's latest effort to strengthen its foothold among Dalit voters ahead of the assembly polls.

Punjab has the highest Dalit population in the country at around 32%, according to the 2011 Census. The community plays a decisive role in the electoral outcome of several assembly constituencies,...