Amit Shah to address public meeting in Bihar today

In his second visit within three weeks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting in Bihar today. The Home Minister will also unveil the statue of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, the Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader, in the Sitab Diara area located on the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border on the occasion of his 120th birth anniversary.

Sitab Diara is the ancestral village of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, located on the UP-Bihar border. After unveiling the statue of Jayaprakash Narayan, the Home Minister will address the public gathering around 12 noon on Tuesday in the Sitab Diara area in Bihar's Saran district.

This would be Shah's second visit to Bihar within the last three weeks. In August this year, the JD(U) snapped its ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a new government in the state.

Shah had addressed a 'Jan Bhavna Mahasabha' and chaired the BJP State Core Committee meeting in his two-day visit to Bihar's bordering Purnia and Kishanganj regions on September 23-24. Purnia is among one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar. He also held a meeting with the MPs, MLAs and former ministers of Bihar BJP in Kishanganj city in Bihar during his visit in September.

Shah's second visit to Bihar in such a short period is significant as it is learnt that it is part of poll preparedness for the party gunning for big wins at the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Shah's last month's visit covered the Seemanchal area of north Bihar which consists of four districts namely Purnia, Kishanganj, Katihar and Araria.

The last month's visit was aimed to influence the success of the political party's candidates in both Assembly and General elections. All four districts share their border with West Bengal and Bangladesh, and in all four districts, the Muslim population is in sizeable number. The BJP leader has claimed that a large number of immigrants have infiltrated and settled there to change the demography.

The four districts represent 24 Assembly seats and four Parliamentary seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, both BJP and JD(U) fought elections together as allies. While BJP won just one seat in Araria, JD(U) was victorious on two seats of Purnia and Katihar, while the Kishanganj seat went to the Congress party.

However, political experts said that the political trend of the Seemanchal area "influences the electoral course of other adjoining districts like Supaul, Bhagalpur, Madhubani and Darbhanga as well".