Ahead of State Polls, BJP Celebrates 'Bihar Diwas' Across More Than Two Dozen States

New Delhi: With an eye on the Assembly polls due in October-November, the BJP is celebrating the "Bihar Diwas" in a grand way. The week-long 113th state formation day celebrations from Saturday are being organised by the party in more than two dozen states in an effort to woo the "pravasi Biharis" ahead of the crucial state polls. The BJP, however, asserts that it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat" vision.

Greeting the people on Bihar Diwas, the Prime Minister lauded the state's "rich heritage, its contribution to Indian history and the relentless spirit of its people in driving the state’s development". No effort to be spared for Bihar's all-round development: In a post on X, Mr Modi described Bihar as a sacred land of the brave and great personalities. He said: “No effort will be spared for Bihar's all-round development.”

Several other BJP leaders, including Central ministers and chief ministers, congratulated the people of Bihar on the formation day. The BJP's efforts to woo pravasi Biharis also faced protests in some states like Assam and Uttarakhand. In Assam, celebrations had to be cancelled due to protests by some Assamese organisations and threats by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent). In Uttarakhand, the ruling BJP faced severe backlash on social media for "favouring" Biharis after the Delhi polls and also for the coming polls in Bihar. The party was also accused of promoting non-Uttarakhandis in a state which is currently witnessing a "pahadi vs non-pahadi" debate.

As per estimates, more than 80-lakh Biharis are living and working in other states across the country. The pravasi Bihari voters played an important role in the BJP's outstanding performance in the recently held Delhi Assembly polls, where the party returned to power after 27 years. The BJP is reaching out to the pravasi Biharis to bolster its performance in the upcoming Bihar polls scheduled for October-November later this year.

As part of the Bihar Diwas celebrations, several BJP leaders on Saturday held press conferences in different states and cities, including Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu, Delhi and Meghalaya, among others, to congratulate Biharis on the foundation day of their state. Several BJP leaders from Bihar also attended these press conferences in cities and states allotted to them by the BJP leadership. Cultural events were also organised.

As part of the week-long initiative, the BJP leaders will also be meeting influential and prominent Biharis from various fields, highlighting the ruling NDA's achievements both in the state and at the Centre. The BJP leaders, it is learnt, will also be seeking opinions and suggestions from them on issues the party needs to consider for further development of Bihar.

In Delhi, as part of the Bihar Diwas celebrations, BJP state unit chief Virendra Sachdeva hailed Biharis for their contribution to strengthening the country's economy "from Kashmir to Kanyakumari".

"Knowledge, peace, spirituality and bravery…if there is one name that embodies all of these, it is Bihar... from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, if anyone is contributing to strengthening the country's economy, it is a brother or sister from Bihar. Even in Delhi, we see that our brothers and sisters from Bihar and Purvanchal are engaged in every industry and business, and in many cases, they even dominate certain trades...," said Mr Sachdeva while addressing the media.

BJP's Bihar unit chief Dilip Jaiswal was in Delhi to participate in the Bihar Diwas celebrations.