Eye on 5 LS seats, Shah to hold rally in Muzaffarpur today
This will be Shah’s seventh visit to the state since chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) exited the BJP-led NDA and tied up with RJD and Congress to form Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar in August last year.
Union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah would be addressing a rally in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on Sunday.
This will be Shah’s seventh visit to the state since chief minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) exited the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and tied up with RJD and Congress to form a Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar in August last year.
Through his rally at Patahi in Muzaffarpur, Shah would be eyeing at least five Lok Sabha seats, including Vaishali from where BJP has never contested. Patahi falls in Vaishali Lok Sabha constituency. The other targeted seats are Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur.
This would be Shah’s first visit to Bihar after the caste survey findings were made public in the state.
Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat was won by Nitish Kumar’s mentor George Fernandes five times between 1977 and 2004. Currently, it’s held by BJP’s Ajay Nishad, who first wrested the seat from the Congress in 2014.
NDA leaders concede in private that without its strongest ally JD(U), winning Muzaffarpur in 2024 is not easy, particularly against the changed face of the alliance in the state. “BJP will have to push hard to get the votes of backward and extremely backward people,” said an NDA leader.
Sitamarhi seat is currently held by Sunil Kumar Pintu of JD(U). Pintu was with BJP and had to take JD(U) membership to contest the elections in 2019. Of late, Pintu has been vocal in his criticism of the caste survey in Bihar. In turn, JD(U) leaders have reminded him of his “BJP background”.
Sheohar seat is currently held by BJP’s Rama Devi, who has won from here several times.
However, BJP is said to be looking for her replacement in the wake of talks going on that someone from the family of Anand Mohan, who was recently released from jail, could be fielded by JD(U). Mohan has represented the seat in 1996 and 1998. “The seat has become a matter of prestige for the party,” said a BJP leader, who did not want to be named.
Bihar BJP president Samrat Chowdhary, however, is confident of BJP’s strong performance and said all the factors would be negated.
What has changed in five years
In 2019, the BJP-led NDA had won 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, barring Kishanganj, which was won by the Congress.
At present, the party’s biggest ally, JD(U), has turned its rival while another ally, the LJP, which had won six seats, has since split into two outfits.