Bihar: BJP gears up for Vishwasghat rally in Rajgir tomorrow

The BJP has made elaborate preparations for its much-hyped 'Viswasghat' (betrayal) rally, which it is being organised in Rajgir, Bihar on Thursday in chief minister Nitish Kumar's own backyard.

The rally, which would kickstart its electoral campaign in the state and prepare the stage for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's rally in Patna on October 27, is expected to be attended by all the front line leaders of the state.

Strategically, the BJP has made full arrangement to transport people to the rally from the villages dominated by Kumar's Kurmi castemen.

"They are with our party," said a BJP local leader Ravi Shankar. Taking a cue from the latest Hindu-CNN-IBN-CSDS survey, he argued, "Don't you know 41% people in Bihar including a majority of Nitish Kumar's castemen did not like his idea of separating from the NDA? Everybody has the right to be ambitious, but it should not be at the cost of the general masses," he said, imputing that Kumar ditched the NDA to project himself as the prime minister.

Apparently, the BJP has done massive groundwork before deciding to kick-start its election campaign from the Nalanda.

"When everything was fine and smooth, what made Nitishji to say good bye to the NDA?" asked Raj Kumar, an educationist at Nayi Pokhar. This was the general response of most people HT spoke to in Nalanda district on the eve of the 'Betrayal rally'.

Surprisingly, people from the Muslim dominated villages did not subscribe to Nitish's idea of separating from the NDA. "We want him to remain the chief minister of Bihar. Now, he may not get the required majority to remain so," said Salim from Deep Nagara.

Though the general refrain is that the CM's decision was hasty and unwarranted, a criss-cross tour of the district made it quite clear, that the JD (U) managers have failed to make the people aware about the actual reason behind the party's decision to part ways with the NDA. Or else, the Muslim community might have favoured Nitish's view on the issue.

Sensing the weakness, the BJP has chosen Nalanda to "expose the man, who betrayed the voters of Bihar."

"What better place than his native district," asked a local BJP leader.

"From Nalanda our message will travel to other parts of the state," the leader averred.