Top leaders to ‘unity’ rallies: Poll battle set to heat up from today

As Bihar braces for a high-voltage electoral showdown, both the Opposition Grand Alliance and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have lined up star-studded campaigns to woo the voters across 12 constituencies going to polls in first of the two-phased assembly elections, covering a diverse mix of western and northern seats.

- Subhash Pathak

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Opposition bloc’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will kick off joint rallies on Wednesday to project a united front following rocky seat-sharing negotiations that resulted in allies getting into “friendly fights” in several seats. The same day, the NDA has also planned a high-octane blitz, with top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Madhya Pradesh and Delhi counterparts Mohan Yadav and Rekha Gupta, respectively, addressing multiple rallies in the state. It will be followed by a massive roadshow by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Patna on November 2.