Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address three rallies in Sasaram, Gaya and Bhagalpur in poll-bound Bihar on Friday.

Preparations are underway at Biada Maidan in Sasaram ahead of the rally. Similar preparations are also being made at Gaya and Bhagalpur.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to hold 12 election rallies in Bihar starting from today.

"On October 28, Prime Minister will hold rallies in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna. On November 3, he will hold rallies in Chhapra, East Champaran and Samastipur and later in West Champaran, Saharsa and Araria.

"A lot of enthusiasm is seen among people, wherever we go in Bihar and take Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name. The country and its people have placed their trust in PM Modi. This trust will benefit not only us but also our allies," former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar in-charge Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said.

Ahead of the rallies, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav raised the issues of unemployment, among others, which he alleged, have been plaguing the state over the 15 years rule of National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In a jibe aimed at Modi, Yadav said he hoped that the issues will be mentioned in his speech at the rallies.

"I hope the Prime Minister will tell Bihar residents today why even after 15 years of JDU-BJP government Bihar is at the lowest rank in the national average of sectors like education, health, jobs, employment, farming, industry? What has NDA given to Bihar, which gave it 39 out of 40 MPs, apart from unemployment?" Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

Voting for Bihar assembly elections will be held in three phases on October 28, November 3 and November 7, followed by counting of votes on November 10.

The ruling NDA in the politically-crucial state will face a challenge from the RJD-Congress alliance. While the BJP-JD(U) alliance and the Congress-RJD combine are firmly in place, LJP and some other regional parties have kept their options open.

In the outgoing assembly, the RJD has 80 members while the JD (U) has 69. The BJP has 54 seats, Congress has 25, while the remaining seats in the 243-member assembly are held by other parties.

(With agencies)