Modi to address first rally in Bihar today

New Delhi:  After winding up his five-day visit to the US and Ireland, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to Bihar election campaigning today and address a rally in the state's Banka district. It is the PM's first rally in Bihar since the five-phased elections were declared.

Banka goes to polls in the first phase on October 12. The BJP had lost this seat in the Lok Sabha polls last year and the party hopes today's rally will help it regain ground there.

Before the big rally in Banka, the PM inaugurated India's first solar-powered civil court in Jharkhand's Khunti district and addressed a public meeting. He will then travel to Dumka to launch the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loan Scheme, where loans worth Rs 212 crore will be distributed among more than one lakh



people.

Yesterday, the BJP released its "vision document" for Bihar elections, focusing on farmers, students, women and the underprivileged.

Party chief Amit Shah is on a week-long tour of the state and is holding meetings with state party leaders to fine-tune the election strategy of the four-party coalition the BJP is leading. A five-star hotel in Patna is functioning as the party's "war-room."

The BJP is contesting 160 of Bihar's 243 seats and the other 83 have been divided among three regional allies. The party thus has little room to take chances and has in several places strategically fielded candidates who have just joined the party after quitting the rival Janata Dal United or Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Bihar goes to polls in five phases between October 12 and November 5.