Patna: Bihar is bracing for some political sabre-rattling on Saturday as Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address BJP supporters at two places, while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav will hold a joint rally of the 'Mahagathbandhan'.
Shah, the BJP's veritable principal strategist, will begin his tour of the state with a public meeting in Balmiki Nagar Lok Sabha constituency, a party stronghold that was given away to the chief minister's JD(U) in 2019 as part of seat-sharing arrangements.
The function, scheduled around noon, would coincide with the 'Mahagathbandhan' rally at Purnea, more than 400 km away, where the septuagenarian CM and his 33-year-old deputy will be joined by smaller allies like the Congress and the Left in display of the state's own version of a 'united opposition' which Kumar, in particular, believes is the way forward to take on the mighty BJP in next year's Lok Sabha polls.
Shah will be in the state capital a few hours after the rally in West Champaran district. In Patna, he will be addressing a 'Kisan Mazdur Samagam' (conclave of farmers and labourers) organised to celebrate birth anniversary of peasant leader and freedom fighter Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.
In Bihar, after a gap of more than four months, the home minister is also scheduled to pay his respects in the evening at Takht Harmandir Patna Sahib, the world-renowned Sikh shrine situated at the place where Guru Gobind Singh was born and had spent his early years.
Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in view of Shah's visit to the Bihar capital for the first time since the BJP got robbed of power in the state.
According to detailed schedule received here, Shah is slated to arrive at the Jay Prakash Narayan Airport around 4 pm. He will be coming from West Champaran district after addressing a party rally.
Local police will be assisted by central paramilitary forces in providing security cover to the Union home minister who is scheduled to reach the Samrat Ashok Convention Centre, about 4 km from the airport, to address the 'Kisan Mazdur Samagam'.
Around 6.30 pm, Shah would visit Takht Harmandir Patna Sahib, situated at the place where Guru Gobind Singh was born.
After spending nearly half an hour at the Gurudwara, the Home Minister will leave for the state guest house from where he will leave, after dinner, at 9.15 pm to board his return flight.
"The BJP stands on the two pillars of organisational strength and ideological commitment and the Union Home Minister's Bihar visit is a reaffirmation of the same," said Nikhil Anand, state BJP spokesman and OBC Morcha national general secretary.
"The Mahagathbandhan, on the other hand, has chosen the communally sensitive Seemanchal area to play its card of Muslim appeasement," he alleged.
Mrityunjay Tiwari, spokesperson of the RJD, to which the deputy CM belongs and which is also the largest constituent of the 'Mahagathbandhan', hit back.
"The Purnea rally will sound the bugle for the battle to drive the BJP out of power. Amit Shah's visit will accomplish little. The Home Minister is likely to attempt communal polarization which is the only hope left for the BJP in 2024 elections," Tiwari alleged.
