Amit Shah to launch NDA’s poll campaign in Bihar on Sunday with ‘virtual rally’.

Amit Shah rally Bihar: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah will hold a virtual rally in Bihar on Sunday to kick-off the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) campaign in the poll-bound state. This would be Shah’s first virtual rally which comes amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The rally was earlier slated for June 9 but it was postponed by the party.

According to BJP, Shah will address people of Bihar through video conferences and Facebook live. Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said the party is aiming to rope in at least one lakh people across all the 243 assembly segments for Shah’s rally.

“The party has set a target of roping in at least one lakh people across the 243 assembly segments in Bihar for the event, besides those who may prefer to listen to the speech on the social networking site,” he said.

The BJP is pulling out all the stops to make the event a success as the COVID-19 outbreak has ruled out any big political gathering. Bihar BJP leaders have said the party has made arrangements at most of the over 72,000 booths in the state for its workers and the masses to hear Amit Shah’s address.

Though this ‘virtual rally’ is part of the BJP’s over month-long campaign to highlight the achievements of the Modi government after it completed the first year of its second term on May 30, Shah is expected to dwell in length over the upcoming assembly polls in which his party is in alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party.

Shah’s rally will be the first public meeting by an NDA leader in Bihar where polls will take place in October-November.

The party has asked its mandals to identify people who can act as a bridge and influence voters. The party’s central and state leadership will directly communicate with them to ascertain the ground situation and prepare strategy accordingly to counter the opposition parties as assembly elections draw near.

Shah in his address is expected to put to rest all speculations on the alliance between the saffron party and Janata Dal (United) in the backdrop of several state unit saffron party leaders being vocal against Nitish Kumar. Notably, Shah and BJP president JP Nadda have already emphasised that Nitish Kumar will be the NDA’s face for polls.

The BJP has been sharing power with Nitish Kumar in Bihar since 2005, barring a four-year gap from 2013-17.

Meanwhile, leader of opposition and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav said that electioneering amidst the coronavirus crisis in the country is nothing but “political vulturism”. He said that the party will organise ‘Garib Adhikar Diwas’ event on June 7 in retaliation to the government’s insensitivity towards poor and farmers. He said that RJD will awaken the government by beating “thalis-katoras (plates-bowls)”.

Bihar will go to polls in October-November. While Nitish Kumar will enter the fray seeking a fourth consecutive win, it will be a do or die situation for the RJD. The RJD heads a coalition comprising RLSP, HAM, VIP and Congress.