Home Minister Amit Shah
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The results of the Bihar Assembly elections either way will have a bearing on national politics, prompting top leaders on both sides Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to hold 15 rallies in the past fortnight.
But the record for the most election rallies after October 23, the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the second phase, by a national leader will go to Home Minister Amit Shah, who addressed 34 meetings, including a couple of them digitally after rain played spoilsport with the campaign schedule.
From the BJP side, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held 18 election programmes while party chief JP Nadda addressed eight programmes while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held three programmes, including in Gaya, and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra 13. Both Nitish Kumar (JD-U) and Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) also held a number of election programmes.
The campaign for the second and last phase of elections ended on Sunday evening with polling scheduled on Tuesday. The counting of votes in 243 constituencies, including 121 that went to polls on November 6, will be held on November 14.
On the last day of campaign, Modi did not go to Bihar but Rahul, Shah and Rajnath were in the state giving the final push to the bloc’s preparations. Rahul attended two rallies in Purnia and Kishanganj while Shah attended programmes in Sasaram and Arwal. Rajnath was in Goh and Mohania.
Modi started early on October 24 with a visit to Sitamarhi and to the residence of socialist icon Karpoori Thakur while Rahul touched the campaign trail in Bihar with two joint rallies with Tejashwi, the I.N.D.I.A bloc's Chief Ministerial face, in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga on October 29.
Both leaders had some common destinations like Begusarai, Bhagalpur and Aurangabad during their campaign. Modi, who addressed rallies in Nawada, Saharsa, Katihar, Araria and Chhapra among others and held a roadshow in Patna, attacked the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, calling it "thug-bandhan" and claiming that it will give impetus to infiltrators among other things.
Rahul, who attended programmes in Purnia, Nalanda, Khagaria and Wazirganj as also in Kutumba where Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram is contesting, returned fire claiming that Modi would dance or do yoga if voters tell him that it would fetch votes. He also spoke about 'vote chori' while alleging that the governments of Modi and Nitish would not get them jobs.
Shah was in Supaul, Jamui, Madhubani and Vaishali among other places in the state.