Amit Shah reaches Bihar; will interact with BJP workers at Dehri on Sone, Begusarai on Thursday

Patna, Sep 17 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Patna on Wednesday for a two-day tour of Bihar, during which he is scheduled to fine-tune the BJP's strategy for the crucial assembly elections.

Shah, the former BJP president, arrived at the Patna airport late in the evening and drove straight to a city hotel where he will retire for the night before visiting Dehri on Sone, in Rohtas district, and Begusarai, for holding deliberations with party workers.

"We have been confident of winning the assembly elections all along. But Amit Shah's visit at such a critical time serves as a huge morale booster," said Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha.

Sinha, along with MP Sanjay Jaiswal, Bihar BJP in-charge Vinod Tawde, Union MoS for Home Nityanand Rai, state minister Mangal Pandey and the party's national secretary Rituraj Sinha, welcomed Shah at the airport and escorted him to the hotel.

State BJP president Dilip Jaiswal earlier said that Shah is scheduled to interact with workers and leaders from 10 districts in the Magadh-Shahabad region at Dehri on Sone, an industrial township situated 50 km from the state capital.

According to party sources, Shah has been concerned over the NDA's below-par performance in the region, which includes districts like Rohtas, Buxar, Bhojpur, Kaimur, Gaya, Nawada, Arwal, Jehanabad and Aurangabad.

In the 2020 assembly polls, a large number of seats in these districts had been won by the RJD, Congress and the Left combine, which managed to outperform the BJP-led coalition again in the Lok Sabha elections held last year.

At Begusarai, which happens to be the Lok Sabha constituency of Union minister Giriraj Singh, Shah will interact with party workers and leaders from another 10 districts in Patna and Munger divisions, said Jaiswal.

Munger division includes the eponymous district, represented in the Lok Sabha by former JD(U) president and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan, besides Begusarai, Khagaria, Lakhisarai, Jamui and Sheikhpura.

Patna division includes the district of the same name as well as adjoining Nalanda, the home turf of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Although Patna and Munger are NDA strongholds, Shah wants to ensure that the BJP and its allies make a clean sweep in the region. PTI NAC SOM