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After losing power, top BJP leaders to visit Bihar this month
Bihar, which sends 40 lawmakers to Parliament, is the only state in the Hindi belt where BJP has been unable to form a government on its own or expand the organisation
Top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are this month scheduled to visit Bihar, where the party lost power in August after chief minister Nitish Kumar ended his alliance with it to form the government with the help of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and the Left parties.
People aware of the matter said Bihar remains a top area of focus for the BJP ahead of the 2024 national elections. Bihar, which sends 40 lawmakers to Parliament, is the only state in the Hindi belt where BJP has been unable to form a government on its own or expand the organisation.
Union home minister Amit Shah will visit Bihar on September 23. His Cabinet colleague Smriti Irani is expected to be there days earlier on September 18 to launch a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Irani’s visit is a separate one. Shah’s visit is part of the BJP’s regular outreach. Programmes in Seemanchal were planned long ago...programmes after that are also planned. Our activities never stop,” said Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal. He dismissed any linkage between Shah’s visit to Muslim-dominated Seemanchal and BJP’s alleged attempts to polarise the state on religious lines.
Jaiswal said the BJP will organise a fortnight-long programme to reach out to people beginning September 17 when Modi celebrates his birthday. Last year, chief minister Nitish Kumar announced a special Covid vaccination drive to administer three million doses on the occasion of Modi’s birthday.
Shah’s visit to Seemanchal will be his first since Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD (U) parted ways with the BJP. He will attend a meeting of the BJP’s core group and address two rallies in Purnea and Kishanganj.
The BJP has set a target of winning 35 seats in the 2024 national polls in Bihar. BJP won 39 of the 40 seats in alliance with the JD (U) and other parties in 2019.
Analyst DM Diwakar said Shah’s visit shows the BJP is working on a plan and may like to polarise votes. “...Seemanchal has constituencies with significant Muslim population and where a party like the AIMIM [All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen] managed to win seats in 2015 [assembly polls].”
Union minister Nityanand Rai, Jaiswal, and former deputy chief minister Tarkeshwar Prasad have visited Seemanchal and organised meetings to galvanise the party ahead of Shah’s visit.
“Nitish Kumar has lost credibility. No matter where he goes, he has to follow the template of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is no more a factor for us. We are a worker-based party and we will keep working for Bihar’s progress, not to suit the interests of individuals. We have the utmost regard for Kumar despite his constantly falling graph, but, perhaps, he did not deserve it,” said Rai.
