Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address three election rallies in Sasaram, Gaya and Bhagalpur on Friday, starting his campaign for Bihar Assembly Election 2020, the first phase of which is scheduled to be held on October 28. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will join PM Modi at the rallies in Dehri and Bhagalpur.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address two rallies on Friday — at Hisua in Nawada and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur. Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan, will join Rahul Gandhi at Hisua, and in Kahalgaon, he will be accompanied by Shaktisinh Gohil and other senior party leaders.
The prime minister will address overall 12 rallies in the state. On October 28, he will be in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna. On November 3, PM Modi will hold rallies in Chhapra, East Champaran and Samastipur along with West Champaran, Saharsa and Araria.
“Tomorrow I will get an opportunity to be with my brothers and sisters from Bihar. I will address rallies in Sasaram, Gaya and Bhagalpur. During this time, I will put the development agenda of the NDA in front of the people and ask for blessings for their alliance,” PM Modi tweeted.
Strict safety measures are being taken at the rally venues as the upcoming election has come under the cloud of Covid-19 with four politicians testing positive. Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, former Union ministers Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, and senior Congress leader and four-time Muzaffarpur MLA Vijendra Chaudhary announced they tested positive for Covid-19.
On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its election manifesto for Bihar people promising free Covid-19 vaccine for all people, once approved, and 19 lakh jobs among others. The manifesto has triggered a ‘vaccine for vote’ debate. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the party and tweeted, “GOI just announced India’s Covid access strategy. Kindly refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when will you get it, along with a hoard of false promises.”
Soon after the BJP announced free vaccine for Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh too walked the same path and promised free vaccine.
The BJP and the Janata Dal (United) have agreed to 121-122 seat-sharing formula for the 243-member assembly in Bihar which will be held in three phases – October 28, November 3, and 7 and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.
