6000 buses and 30 trains booked for Modi’s rally

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leaving no stone unturned to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Patna on Sunday a huge success. Touted to be the biggest show of strength, particularly after the surcharged emotions, the BJP-led NDA has booked 6000 buses and 30 trains to ferry people from all corners of the State.

Already 17 trains have been booked and another 13 would be booked in the next 24 hours. These trains would originate from Bagaha (in the north), Mohania (in the west) and Kishanganj (in the east).

Each train, with 18 to 20 coaches, is expected to carry around 2000 passengers who would be provided free food and mineral water by the saffron camp. “Seventeen trains have already been booked by the NDA after depositing the two-way fare,” said RP Thakur, DRM of Danapur division.

According to a rough estimate, the NDA would be spending around Rs 3 crore for booking 30 trains under the East Central Railway (ECR) and North Frontier Railway (NFR).

The rally is significant in the sense that this will be for the first time that Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address the gathering together. Though both leaders have attended government programmes and events together, but this will be first occasion where the two leaders will jointly address a rally and showcase their ‘vikas’ (development) model.

“Prime Minister Modi will sound the poll bugle for the parliamentary elections too, as the Election Commission is likely to announce poll dates next week. The event, called Sankalp rally, will also be historic in the sense that another influential leader Ram Vilas Paswan too will address the gathering at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna on March 3,” said Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai.

Unlike the Mahagatbandhan, the NDA has reached a seat-sharing pact among its three constituents. While the JD (U) and the BJP would contest 17 seats each, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) headed by Paswan would contest the remaining six seats, out of 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar.