By IANS
Amritsar : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani has paid a low-key visit to the headquarters of the Punjab-based Radha Soami sect at Beas town near here.
Sect sources Sunday confirmed Advani’s visit at its sprawling Dera Baba Jaimal Singh campus, virtually a mini-city, at Beas town, 40 km from here. He arrived Saturday evening and left from the private airfield of the sect headquarters Sunday.
Even senior BJP leaders in Amritsar or elsewhere in Punjab, including the state BJP president, remained largely unaware of Advani’s visit. And so did most of the senior police officers of the state.
“It was a private visit by the leader. There was no need to inform the state leadership about it,” a top BJP leader, requesting anonymity, said while trying to hide his embarrassment that he did not know of Advani’s visit.
Top Punjab police sources confirmed the visit of Advani – who enjoys the highest level of security.
Advani was closeted with the Radha Soami sect head, Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon, for nearly an hour. He also attended a satsang of the sect head.
The sect has a huge following, running into millions of people in India and abroad. While it has huge following in all north Indian states, it has a substantial number of followers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and south Indian states.
The sect was founded in 1891 by Baba Jaimal Singh. The present sect head, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, was educated in the Sanawar School in Kasauli hills.