Amid the ongoing debate on the NDA’s lead face in Bihar, the BJP has already scheduled at least 10 rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The first rally would be at Jamui and Gaya on April 2. Both these constituencies are going to polls in the first phase on April 11 and are being contested by BJP’s alliance partners LJP and JD (U).
From Jamui, union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s son and sitting MP Chirag Paswan is in the fray while from Gaya, which was represented by the BJP, JD (U)’s Vijay Manjhi is pitted against former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
That the BJP is banking on Modi’s charisma is apparent from the fact that PM’s rally has been planned for each of the seven phases of elections.
Lok Sabha polls in Bihar have been staggered in seven phases beginning April 11 and ending on May 19.
“The detailed programme of PM’s other rallies will be available in a day or two, but he will be definitely addressing a rally in each phase,” said BJP’s state unit vice-president Devesh Kumar. A senior BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, said the number of rallies might increase up to 12.
{{/usCountry}}“The detailed programme of PM’s other rallies will be available in a day or two, but he will be definitely addressing a rally in each phase,” said BJP’s state unit vice-president Devesh Kumar. A senior BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, said the number of rallies might increase up to 12.
{{/usCountry}}Prior to PM’s visit, BJP’s national president Amit Shah would be addressing election rallies at Aurangabad and Nawada on March 30.
The BJP, which has launched a concerted attack on the Opposition, has also organised Jan Sabhas at Muzaffarpur, Sasaram, Jamui, Ujiyarpur and Maharajganj simultaneously on March 26. These rallies would be addressed by Sushil Kumar Modi, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Ram Kripal Yadav, Radha Mohan Singh and Nand Kishore Yadav, respectively. The theme of these rallies, which are part of party’s 2019 election campaign, would be on national security and the NDA government’s welfare schemes over the past five years, sources said.
During the 2015 assembly polls in Bihar, Modi had addressed 31 election rallies while Congress’s Rahul Gandhi had addressed 16 meetings.
Among the BJP leaders in the state, Sushil Kumar Modi had addressed 182 meetings while Nand Kishore Yadav, another senior BJP leader from Bihar, attended 80 rallies.
BJP alliance partner leaders , Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha (RLSP, now with the Grand Alliance) had held 143 and 184 rallies, respectively.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was part of the Grand Alliance during assembly polls in 2015, had addressed 230 election meetings while now jailed Lalu Prasad had addressed 250 meetings.