As the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections approach, BJP is crafting a new plan to gain support from Scheduled Castes (31.91% population) and Other Backward Classes (25-30%). On February 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar for Guru Ravidas’s 649th birth anniversary, forging ties with Dalit voters. Modi connected with Sant Niranjan Dass, Padma Shri awardee and head of the Dera. Modi’s roots in Kashi, Guru Ravidas’s birthplace, resonated with the crowd. Punjab’s Scheduled Castes are diverse, with many castes and sects called Deras influencing 56 of 117 Assembly constituencies. No single party has fully united these voters before. Nearby Haryana's BJP used similar tactics in 2024, increasing SC seat wins and forming the government. BJP is sending Haryana Chief Minister and OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini to Punjab regularly. He attends social and religious events while promoting Haryana’s governance model. Saini criticizes Punjab's ruling AAP over unmet promises to women, contrasting it with Haryana’s ₹2,100 monthly aid scheme. Since splitting with Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP brought in Sikh leaders like Amarinder Singh and Ravneet Singh Bittu, plus Hindu leaders such as Sunil Jakhar. BJP also highlights pro-Sikh steps by the Union government since 2014, like probing 1984 riots, starting the Kartarpur Corridor, and waiving GST on langars. Yet, BJP won only two seats in 2022 Assembly polls and none in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, despite raising its vote share from 9.63% to 18.56%. Modi’s Dera visit and Saini’s outreach mark efforts to crack Punjab’s complex electoral code. Only time will tell if this social engineering strategy pays off.