Express News Service
PATNA: Ahead of a five-day special session of Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public rally in Jhanjharpur in north Bihar on September 16. BJP state vice president Santosh Pathak confirmed the Union home minister’s visit to Jhanjharpur.
Shah has increased the frequency of his visits to Bihar ever since chief minister Nitish Kumar snapped his party JD(U)’s ties with BJP to form a new government with the support of Grand Alliance (GA) in August last year. Shah had earlier visited Purnea, Nawada, Valmikinagar, Patna and Lakhisarai since the formation of a new grand alliance government in the state.
In his last visit to the state, Shah had addressed a public meeting in Lakhisarai on June 24. The proposed Jhanjharpur rally is being held in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election scheduled to be conducted in 2024, sources in the party said.
BJP has already started preparations for the rally being held in the heart of the Mithilanchal region, which will be in focus of all political parties during next year’s general election. The Jhanjharpur rally will be a part of the party’s ‘Lok Sabha Pravas’ programme.
The previous visit of Shah to Jhanjharpur was cancelled in June due to law and order problems arising out of a communal flare-up. “We are enthusiastic about Shah’s visit to the Mithilanchal region. His visit will raise the political temperature in the state,” said a senior BJP leader requesting anonymity.
Jhanjharpur is among the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies where saffron has to work hard to register its win in the Lok Sabha election. In 2019, the seat went to BJP’s ally JD(U) under the seat-sharing agreement among different constituents of the NDA.
Ram Preet Mandal of JD(U) had won the seat. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) was then an ally of the NDA. While BJP and JD(U) had contested 17 seats each, six seats were given to Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The NDA had won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The lone Kishanganj seat had gone to the Congress, a major ally of Grand Alliance.
The central leadership of the BJP has asked its state unit to concentrate on the 10 Loin Sabha seats in the state. Besides Jhanjharpur, Kishangan, Valmikinagar, Vaishali, Nawada, Purnea, Katihar, Supaul, Munger and Gaya have been identified as ‘tough’ seats for BJP during an internal survey conducted by the party in the state.
Sources in the party said that altogether seven ‘leaders’ have been given specific tasks to strengthen the support base of the party.
“They all will work under a well-planned strategy to ensure the victory of the candidates of the party on those seats,” another BJP leader aware of the party affairs said. The visit of Shah will raise the political temperature in the state as Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will be on the target of the former.
Nitish snapped ties with the BJP and joined hands with the grand alliance to form the government in the state in August last year.
PATNA: Ahead of a five-day special session of Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public rally in Jhanjharpur in north Bihar on September 16. BJP state vice president Santosh Pathak confirmed the Union home minister’s visit to Jhanjharpur.
Shah has increased the frequency of his visits to Bihar ever since chief minister Nitish Kumar snapped his party JD(U)’s ties with BJP to form a new government with the support of Grand Alliance (GA) in August last year. Shah had earlier visited Purnea, Nawada, Valmikinagar, Patna and Lakhisarai since the formation of a new grand alliance government in the state.
In his last visit to the state, Shah had addressed a public meeting in Lakhisarai on June 24. The proposed Jhanjharpur rally is being held in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election scheduled to be conducted in 2024, sources in the party said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
BJP has already started preparations for the rally being held in the heart of the Mithilanchal region, which will be in focus of all political parties during next year’s general election. The Jhanjharpur rally will be a part of the party’s ‘Lok Sabha Pravas’ programme.
The previous visit of Shah to Jhanjharpur was cancelled in June due to law and order problems arising out of a communal flare-up. “We are enthusiastic about Shah’s visit to the Mithilanchal region. His visit will raise the political temperature in the state,” said a senior BJP leader requesting anonymity.
Jhanjharpur is among the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies where saffron has to work hard to register its win in the Lok Sabha election. In 2019, the seat went to BJP’s ally JD(U) under the seat-sharing agreement among different constituents of the NDA.
Ram Preet Mandal of JD(U) had won the seat. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) was then an ally of the NDA. While BJP and JD(U) had contested 17 seats each, six seats were given to Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The NDA had won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The lone Kishanganj seat had gone to the Congress, a major ally of Grand Alliance.
The central leadership of the BJP has asked its state unit to concentrate on the 10 Loin Sabha seats in the state. Besides Jhanjharpur, Kishangan, Valmikinagar, Vaishali, Nawada, Purnea, Katihar, Supaul, Munger and Gaya have been identified as ‘tough’ seats for BJP during an internal survey conducted by the party in the state.
Sources in the party said that altogether seven ‘leaders’ have been given specific tasks to strengthen the support base of the party.
“They all will work under a well-planned strategy to ensure the victory of the candidates of the party on those seats,” another BJP leader aware of the party affairs said. The visit of Shah will raise the political temperature in the state as Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will be on the target of the former.
Nitish snapped ties with the BJP and joined hands with the grand alliance to form the government in the state in August last year.
