PM, Shah not to campaign for 4 byelections in Bihar
JD-U campaigner Prashant Kishor may be cause of unease in NDA camp
The BJP on Thursday released a list of 35-star campaigners for the upcoming Bihar byelections.
While the BJP didn’t include Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah’s name in the list, citing their “busy schedule” as a reason, sources claimed that the JD(U), which is also preparing its own list may announce poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s name as one of its star campaigners.
Sources said that Mr Kishor’s name may cause uneasiness in the NDA camp due to his closeness with other political parties, including Trinamul Congress in West Bengal, where the BJP has also emerged as the main challenger.
Reacting to the development, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand told this
newspaper that the inclusion of Prashant Kishor in the list of star campaigners is an “internal matter and the decision of the JD(U). So, there is no need for the BJP to make any comments on the issue”.
When asked why the BJP has not included the names of Mr Modi and Mr Shah in the list of campaigners, he said, “The
time schedule of the Prime Minister and home minister is important for the country. Both the leaders are currently busy with nation-building. Therefore, we feel that the galaxy of leaders included in the Bihar BJP campaigners’ list is sufficient to lead the campaign for the byelections”.
The BJP leaders who have been included in the list of star campaigners include the party’s working president J.P. Nadda, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and firebrand BJP leader Giriraj Singh.
Other senior leaders, whose names have figured in the list are Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Ku-ar Modi, state ministers Nand Kishore Yadav, Prem Kumar, Mangal Pandey, MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy, and national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.
The JD(U), a key ally of the BJP in Bihar, is contesting four of the five Assembly seats that are going to the polls on October 21: Simri Bakht-iyarpur, Daraundha, Nathnagar, and Belhar. The Kishanganj Assembly seat has been left for the BJP.
The seats fell vacant after their representatives were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year.