PM Modi to campaign in Bihar from next week

The BJP-led NDA's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections is set to gain momentum in Bihar, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rallies next week in Jamui and Gaya parliamentary constituencies.

While Modi's visit is scheduled on April 2, BJP president Amit Shah will be holding election meetings at Aurangabad and Nawada on March 29, said a release issued by the party's state headquarters here on Monday.

The four constituencies to be covered by Shah and Modi go to polls in the first-phase filing of nominations for which the deadline ended earlier in the day, and where votes will be cast on April 11.

Notably, among the four seats, only Aurangabad is being contested by the BJP with sitting MP Sushil Kumar Singh seeking re-election.

Gaya, from where Hari Manjhi is the sitting BJP MP, has gone to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) this time and the party has fielded Vijay Manjhi.

Jamui, a reserved constituency, is held by LJP's Chirag Paswan, who is once again in the fray as the NDA candidate.

Nawada currently represented by firebrand BJP leader Giriraj Singh has been given to the LJP, which has fielded mafia don-turned-politician Suraj Bhan Singh's brother Chandan Kumar. The BJP had won 22 out of 28 seats it had contested in 2014 in the state, where the total number is 40.

While the party had put up its best-ever electoral performance, riding the Modi wave, the NDA's combined tally stood at 31, including six seats won by the LJP and three by Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP.

The RLSP quit the NDA a couple of months ago and joined the 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance).

The BJP has ceded five of its sitting seats to the JD(U), choosing to contest 17 this time, while the alliance partner, which had won only two when it fought alone five years ago, is fielding candidates in an equal number of constituencies.