PATNA: On the day of the first phase of polling in 71 seats across 16 south Bihar districts, PM Narendra Modi will address three physical rallies at Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna on Wednesday. "His rallies will be broadcast on LED screens in eight administrative districts," the party’s state general secretary Devesh Kumar said.
The PM will be addressing rallies in north Bihar districts, and also parts of Patna, where the polling will take place in the second and third phases — on November 3 and November 7, respectively.
“CM Nitish Kumar and JD(U) general secretary Sanjay Kumar Jha will join the PM at Darbhanga and Patna. Another NDA partner VIP chief Mukesh Sahani will also be present on the stage at Darbhanga,” Kumar further said.
The state’s air-route and those entrusted to keep security watch on the ground will remain on high alert for four and half hours from 10 am to 3.30 pm, when the PM will be in the state.
The PM will address his first rally at the Raj Ground in Darbhanga around noon, the second rally will be near the Muzaffarpur airport, and the third at the veterinary college ground in Patna.
In Patna, Dak Bungalow crossings and the roads leading to the airport are decked-up with banners, posters and festoons of BJP. Traffic rules have been changed for the roads leading to the veterinary college ground here.
Coinciding with the PM’s visit, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will also be in the state on Wednesday and address a dozen rallies.
A day before Rahul tours the state, Congress president Sonia Gandhi released a video message for the people of Bihar on social media platforms.
The party’s state spokesman and MLC Prem Chandra Mishra told media persons that Rahul Gandhi’s two rallies will begin from Valmiki Nagar at noon and Kusheshwarasthan in Darbhanga. Incidentally, the PM Modi’s and Gandhi’s rallies coincided in the first leg of their respective rallies on October 23 as well.
As the state BJP leader Kumar said, NDA’s Darbhanga, Madhubani and Jhanjharpur MPs will join the PM at Darbhanga, and Union minister Giriraj Singh, along with the MPs of Sitamarhi, Sheohar and Muzaffarpur, will be present at Muzaffarpur. In Patna, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr C P Thakur, Ram Kripal Yadav and Nand Kishore Yadav will join the PM.
Already, reactions have begun to come on the PM’s rallies in the state. While former BJP leader and veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha called the three rallies addressed by the PM on October 23 as “lacklustre,” the CM face of the RJD-led grand alliance Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Tuesday posed 11 questions to the PM. A small contingent of Congress, consisting of the party’s MLA Bhavna Jha, among others, courted arrest protesting against the PM’s scheduled rallies on Wednesday.