Nitish Kumar is set to be the Chief Minister of Bihar again.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will hit the campaign trail today with virtual rallies addressing several assembly constituencies across the state.
The Janata Dal (United) chief has addressed last virtual rally a month ago.
JD (U) leaders said that Kumar will be addressing virtual rallies in 35 assembly constitutes today and tomorrow while the physical rallies will begin from October 14.
"The campaign will be through virtual mode on October 12 and 13. From October 14, he is likely to fly to different parts to address election meetings while remaining physically present," Sanjay Kumar Jha, JD (U) national general secretary told news agency PTI.
Beginning October 28, voting for electing 243-member Bihar Assembly has been staggered over three phases. Counting will be held on November 10.
Leading the NDA's charge in the state, Kumar along with the BJP is aiming to retain power. The ruling coalition is being challenged by the Grand Alliance of Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD, the Congress and other smaller parties. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), an NDA ally at the centre, is contesting alone.
Kumar had addressed a virtual rally, his first, on September 7. This election will see more virtual rallies than physical ones owing to health restrictions in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. The Election Commission, last week, relaxed the norms and allowed political parties to address physical rallies.
BJP chief JP Nadda addressed an election rally in Gaya on Sunday. The rally, first by the BJP in poll-bound Bihar, was attended by close to 8000 people, reports said.
Kumar’s virtual campaign today will commence in the evening, connecting the NDA’s CM face to 11 assembly segments of six districts. On Tuesday, he will reach out to people of 11 assembly segments of five districts in the morning and another 13 constituencies of four districts in the evening through virtual rallies, Jha said.
The JD (U) and BJP are contesting 122 and 121 seats in Bihar, as per the seat-sharing formula. The JD (U) had last week released a list of 115 candidates who would contest the three-phase polls. The BJP on Sunday released a list of 46 candidates for the second phase of polling on November 3. A list of 27 candidates for the first phase was released earlier.
The BJP has also released a list of 30 star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the Bihar elections.
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