Subscribe Now! Get features like
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening held a road show in Patna, a BJP stronghold with two parliamentary constituencies of Patliputra and Patna Sahib.
The roadshow, a first in Patna by any Prime Minister, began near Bhattacharya Road around 7.20 pm and was scheduled to conclude at Udyog Bhavan near Gandhi Maidan after traversing more than two kilometres through usually congested roads.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy CM and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary and others welcomed Modi before he boarded the specially designed vehicle. Patna Sahib candidate Ravi Shankar Prasad also accompanied Modi on the vehicle.
After night stay at the Raj Bhawan, Modi is scheduled to hold three election rallies in Bihar on Monday — Hajipur, Muzaffarpur and Saran — which are among the five parliamentary seats in the state going to polls in the fifth phase of the ongoing elections across the country. Five other seats are also due to vote on Monday.
Before leaving for rallies, Modi will visit Takht Harmandir, the famous Sikh shrine situated in the old city area and the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, on Monday morning.
In Hajipur, LJP-R chief Chirag Paswan is contesting for the first time. His father late Ram Vilas Paswan won the seat multiple times.
In Saran, sitting BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy is facing off RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya, who is fighting her maiden election.
In Muzaffarpur, he will campaign for BJP candidate Raj Bhushan Choudhary Nishad.
Modi has so far held seven rallies in Bihar, which has 40 Lok Sabha seats, of which 39 were won by the BJP-led NDA in 2019.
Arun Kumar is Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times. He has spent two-and-half decades covering Bihar, including politics, educational and social issues.