PM Narendra Modi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: Now that the battlelines are clearly drawn between the NDA and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in Bihar, all eyes will be on the BJP’s star campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, in all probability, will leave no stone unturned in wresting Bihar again.
Modi, who as PM has visited the Bihar 55 times in the last 11 years, will hit the dusty bylanes of the poll-bound State on October 24 where he will kickstart the election campaign from Samastipur, the birthplace of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, who was Chief Minister of Bihar in the 70s, and was awarded the highest civilian honour this year.
Incidentally, Karpoori Thakur’s son Ramnath Thakur is a JD (U) Rajya Sabha member and presently serving as Union Minister of State for Agriculture in the Narendra Modi Government.
Ironically, Modi will be canvassing against Karpoori Thakur’s grand-daughter Dr Jagriti Thakur, who has been fielded as the Jan Suraaj nominee of Prashant Kishor’s outfit from Morwa in Samastipur.
“PM Modi will first pay tributes to Karpoori Thakur at Karpoori Gram, the birthplace of the former Bihar CM and then address a rally in Samastipur as well as Begusarai on Friday,” said Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, adding that altogether Modi will address seven rallies, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah is slated to address 25, while Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda 22 rallies each.
Modi, who is the sole star campaigner within the BJP and helps the saffron camp romp home, will visit Bihar again on October 30 where he will address two back-to-back rallies in Muzaffarpur and Saran.
After the Mahagatbandhan has declared Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate, all eyes will now be on Modi whether he too announces Nitish as the NDA's CM face or not.
So far, both Modi and Shah have refrained from naming Nitish as the CM face if the NDA was voted to power. This has compounded confusion among the staunch supporters of Nitish, who have stood by the Bihar CM through thick and thin. “When Amit Shah ji said we will fight the Assembly poll under Nitish’s leadership, it is quite obvious who will be the next CM,” said JD (U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, who is also Nitish’s close aide.