PM Modi's Rally No. 4 in Bihar as War of Words Peaks

PM Narendra Modi at a rally last month in Arrah, Bihar

Patna:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be back in Bihar today for his fourth rally in the state, where elections will be held by November. In Bhagalpur, he is expected to counter a joint attack launched on him by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his allies Lalu Prasad Yadav and Congress president Sonia Gandhi two days ago.

At a mega rally in Patna on Sunday, they targeted PM Modi for the Centre’s decision to bury the changes it had planned in the law for acquiring land for big projects, strategically before the elections in Bihar, a primarily agrarian state.

Nitish Kumar and Sonia Gandhi alleged that the PM was forced to “bow to the people’s will” and abandon an “anti-farmer law.”

In the run-up to the crucial Bihar elections, the two sides have also done battle over the PM’s comments on Nitish Kumar’s “DNA,” when he questioned the Chief Minister’s political integrity. Sonia Gandhi joined Nitish Kumar in interpreting PM Modi’s comment as an insult to the “DNA of all Biharis.”

At his last rally, PM Modi had announced a Rs 1.25 lakh-crore financial bonanza in central funds for the state. The BJP in Bihar believes that has given it a distinct edge in these elections that it must win to efface the nightmare of the last assembly election it fought – Delhi, where it was routed by the Aam Aadmi Party.

Today’s rally also comes amid worries among the BJP’s Bihar allies that the party is yet to firm up seat-sharing. Seat-sharing was reportedly not discussed at a meeting held with them by BJP chief Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday.

The NDA has not projected anyone as presumptive Bihar chief minister, falling back on its tested strategy of building its campaign around PM Modi and his development agenda. Nitish Kumar is the chief ministerial candidate of the rival alliance, which has also already announced how it will divide the seats between the partners.