PM Modi’s Bihar poll plan is official – Samastipur and onwards, multiple visits before first phase

The PM is scheduled to visit the state again on October 30 and November 2 and 3, before the first phase of polls on November 6. The first phase will witness voting for 121 of 243 Assembly seats in the state, where the JD(U)-BJP alliance hopes to retain power, while the Congress-RJD mahagathbandhan hopes to dislodge it. A new factor in the poll-bound state is the emergence of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party.

The second phase of polls on 122 seats would be conducted on November 11, followed by counting on November 14.

The PM’s choice to begin with Samastipur is significant since the BJP has long been attempting to co-opt his socialist legacy. Thakur’s paternal village, Karpoori Gram, named after him following his death in 1988, is barely a few kilometres from the PM’s rally venue in Samatipur town.

Incidentally, Karpoori Thakur’s granddaughter, Jagriti Thakur, a dentist, is contesting as a Jan Suraaj Party nominee from the Morwa Assembly segment of Samastipur.

Jagriti is the daughter of Karpoori Thakur’s younger son, Dr Birendra Thakur. The former CM’s elder son, Ramnath Thakur, is a JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP and Union minister.

Elaborating on the PM’s poll campaign, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal said Modi would launch the poll campaign with Samastipur and Begusarai on Friday and return to Bihar on October 30 to address rallies in Muzaffarpur and Chhapra.

Meanwhile, JD(U) has planned 80 meetings featuring CM Nitish Kumar across the state for the two-phase election. Nitish, who launched his and his party’s election campaign last week from Sastipur, has also addressed public meetings in Muzaffarpur so far.