Rahul meets Dera Sachkhand Ballan chief Sant Niranjan Dass

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who is on a four-day tour of poll-bound Punjab for election campaigning, today visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar and met the sect's head Sant Niranjan Dass to seek his blessings.

Gandhi, accompanied by Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh, met Sant Niranjan Dass at Dera Sachkhand Ballan this evening, party sources said here.

With Congress eyeing to wrest power in the state from the SAD-BJP combine after 10 years, the Congress vice president's visit assumes significance. Notably, Dera has huge following among Dalits here and the followers include sizeable number of Ravidassia community members.

Significantly, Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded Dera Sachkhand Ballan followers Satpal Mal from Kartarpur and Kabir Das from Nabha.

In December, Gandhi had met Radha Soami sect chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon at his residence in Beas.

Punjab is set to witness a three-cornered fight in the Assembly polls with Congress, SAD-BJP and new entrant AAP being in the fray.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)