Patna: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address BJP workers' meetings in West Champaran and Patna in Bihar on Saturday even as state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav will also hold rallies of the Mahagathbandhan at Purnea. The rallies are seen as precursor to the campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year.
Home Minister will address BJP supporters at two places, while the CM and his deputy will hold a joint rally of the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Purnia. Shah will first hold a public meeting in Balmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency in West Champaran district, a BJP stronghold that was given away to the chief minister's JD(U) in 2019 as part of seat-sharing arrangements.
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Later in the day, Shah is scheduled to address a 'Kisan Mazdur Samagam' (conclave of farmers and labourers) organised to celebrate birth anniversary of peasant leader and freedom fighter Swami Sahajanand Saraswati. The home minister will also pay his respects in the evening at Takht Harmandir Patna Sahib, the world-renowned Sikh shrine situated at the place where Guru Gobind Singh was born and had spent his early years.
Sources said elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in view of Shah's visit to the Bihar capital. Nitish who parted ways with the BJP last year is seeking a united front in Bihar against the BJP to take on the saffron party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The political parties of Bihar are keeping an eye on Seemanchal, a Muslim dominated region for the general elections 2024. RJD had suffered the most in the region in the last assembly elections where Asaduddin Owaisi's party AIMIM came into the limelight for the first time by securing 5 seats here. Although, 4 of his MLAs joined RJD, it is believed that Owaisi's influence remains.
