Patna (Bihar) [India], November 1 (HBTV): Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao has expressed confidence in the growing strength of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, asserting that the strong public response to the BJP’s campaign reflects the deepening sentiment in favour of the alliance.
Sao, who participated in two nomination rallies of BJP candidates in Bihar, said that the turnout at both events underlined the rising support for the NDA.
‘Today, I attended two nomination rallies of BJP candidates in Bihar... The impressive turnout at both rallies demonstrates the strong NDA sentiment in Bihar,’ Sao told reporters.
In preparation for the elections, the BJP released a list of 40 star campaigners on Thursday, featuring top party leaders and influential public figures, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Other notable names on the list include Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Giriraj Singh. The list also features five Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled states: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The list brings together current and former ministers, party veterans, and popular personalities. Former Union Minister Smriti Irani also returns to the campaign trail, alongside other senior leaders such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, Radha Mohan Singh, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, and Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
Both Bihar Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha are included, along with former deputy CM Renu Devi and several other state ministers. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Union Water Minister CR Patil, and leaders including Dr. Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, Prem Kumar, Nityanand Rai, Satish Chandra Dubey, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, Vinod Tawde, Babulal Marandi, Pradeep Kumar Singh, Gopaljee Thakur, and Janak Ram also feature on the list.
It further includes prominent names from Bhojpuri cinema such as actor-singer-turned-politician Pawan Singh, Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan, and Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua.
The last date for nominations for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections is October 17, while polling will be held on November 6.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its third list of candidates, featuring 18 names, while the Janata Dal (United) announced its second list of 44 candidates on Thursday, bringing the total to 101 for the NDA bloc. Other allies, including Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustani Awam Morcha, have declared six candidates each, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas), led by Chirag Paswan, is yet to field candidates in several constituencies.
Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan is yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, filed his nomination from Raghopur constituency on Wednesday.
Bihar will go to the polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, with the results scheduled to be declared on November 14.
(ANI)