Patna: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday gave a pep talk to BJP leaders of Bihar where the party's performance will be crucial in ensuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return to power for a third consecutive term.
Shah, widely regarded as the BJP's principal strategist, was here to chair the 26th meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council which was attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and representatives of the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. After the three-hour-long meeting held at the chief minister's secretariat, Shah retired to the State Guest House, situated barely a few meters away, where he met members of the BJP core committee in Bihar.
Those present at the meeting with Shah, who spent an hour before boarding his return flight, included Union MoS Home Nityanand Rai, former Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and leader of the opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha. There was no official word on what transpired at the meeting though leaders speaking on condition of anonymity said that they were asked by Shah to keep up the party's winning streak in Lok Sabha polls, which has received a big boost with impressive victories in the recently held assembly polls to Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Notably, despite having done well in Bihar in the last Lok Sabha polls, when it won all the 17 seats it had contested, the BJP faces a big challenge this time with Nitish Kumar having parted ways. Kumar, whose JD(U) had contributed 16 seats to the NDA kitty in 2019, has walked over to the Mahagathbandhan which includes Congress, RJD and three Left parties.
In a bid to minimise the impact of Kumar's exit, the BJP has inducted into the NDA his disgruntled ex-allies like Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha, besides having by its side late Ram Vilas Paswan's brother Pashupati Kumar Paras and son Chirag Paswan, whose family feud cum political rivalry remains a problem for the coalition.
The exit of Kumar from NDA last year had stripped the BJP of power. The Union Home Minister has since visited Bihar many times to address public meetings and interact with party cadre in different parts of the state.
