Published 14:21 IST, September 12th 2020
BJP launches campaign song 'Aatmanirbhar Bihar'; Nadda discusses seat-sharing with Nitish
BJP's national president JP Nadda on Saturday launched campaign song of the party for Bihar polls and met Nitish Kumar to discuss the seat-sharing deal
Launching the poll campaign of BJP 'Atmanirbhar Bihar' on Saturday, the party's national president JP Nadda said that it will bring the state's development agenda to the mainstream and will be a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream for a self-reliant India. The BJP also launched its poll song and slogan 'Jan Jan Ki Pukar, Aatmanirbhar Bihar'. Nadda is on a two-day visit to the state and will finalise the seat-sharing deal with the NDA partners.
Listen to the campaign song here:
BJP's poll slogan in Bihar
Nadda meets Nitish
As massive speculations were made about the tiff between the LJP and JDU, JP Nadda asserted that both parties will contest the elections under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar. He also met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for more than half an hour, and discussed the seat-sharing as well as the ongoing power tussle between LJP and JDU. Nadda was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, national general secretary and state in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and state president Sanjay Jaiswal. The JD(U) national president, welcomed the leaders at his official residence 1, Anney Marg with other JDU leaders Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan.
Nitish's 'Nishchay Samwad'
Last week, sounding JDU's poll bugle, Nitish Kumar launched his re-election campaign with a 'Nischay Samwaad' rally. In a marathon three hour speech, Nitish Kumar attacked the Lalu family and chose to end his speech by mentioning deceased actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He also spoke in length on the state's COVID-19 preparations, his government's social schemes. In his 'Nischay Samwaad', Kumar connected with 10 lakh people virtually on JDUlive.com and other social media portals.
RJD's Tej Pratap begins campaign
Kickstarting his poll campaign, RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav held a massive rally in Bihar's Hasanpur Vishan Sabha constituency, completely flouting the guidelines of social distancing amid COVID-19 pandemic. Sources have said that Lalu Prasad's son Tej Pratap is likely to contest from Hasanpur constituency amid speculations that his estranged wife Aishwarya Rai would contest from his current Mahua seat. While the RJD has faced massive blow after senior leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Mahagathbandhan partner HAM's Jitan Ram MAnjhi quit, its probable CM candidate Tejashwi has continued his attack on Nitish Kumar's administration.
Congress 'Bihar Kranti'
Launching its campaign for Bihar elections, the Congress organised a virtual meeting called ''Bihar Kranti Virtual Mahasammelan'' in the two districts of East Champaran and West Champaran. Congress which is the part of the opposition Grand Alliance in the state headed by the RJD, said that Bihar is all set for a change of government as people are fed up with the NDA rule.
Congress national general secretary and MP Avinash Pandey, who is also Bihar Congress Screening Committee chairman, addressed the rally attacking the Nitish Kumar government and the BJP claiming that they have turned a deaf ear to
the problems being faced by people
Bihar Elections 2020
Bihar is all set for assembly polls with the Election Commission issuing guidelines for elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 243-member assembly seat, NDA currently has 131, and Mahagathbandhan has 101 seats (11 seats are vacant). The Election Commission has issued directives to conduct election amid COVID, however, the dates are yet to be announced.
In the 2015 assembly polls, CM Nitish Kumar's JDU, then a part of the Mahagathbandhan won 71 seats, Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD won 80 seats, and Congress won 27 seats. The BJP which fought the elections alone after Kumar in 2013 broke the 17-year-old alliance won a mere 53 seats out of 157 contested. However, the saffron party came back to power when Kumar ditched the Mahagathbandhan and once again stitched an alliance with the BJP.
Updated 14:21 IST, September 12th 2020