AGENCY
NEW DELHI, May 29
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a grand roadshow here in the Bihar capital on Thursday after inaugurating the Rs 1,200-crore new terminal of Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport and the construction of a new airport at Bihta, a suburb 25 km from the main city.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha were also present on the occasion.
The new state-of-the-art Patna airport terminal building and the new Bihta airport promise a comfortable and world-class experience for travellers. The development of modern infrastructure is touted to further strengthen Bihar’s connectivity, boosting tourism, trade, and investment opportunities.
The new terminal is equipped to serve 3,000 passengers during peak hours and a crore passengers annually. The building’s design has traces of Bihar’s architectural traditions, which draw inspiration from the landscape of the region and Mithila Art.
Modi’ caravan from the airport to the state BJP headquarters went through Bailey Road, the lifeline of Patna, crossing several landmarks of the city. Several hoardings were erected to celebrate the valour of the Indian Army in Operation Sindoor.
Thousands of people, full of enthusiasm, were seen waving Tiranga and raising slogans to express their admiration as the prime minister made his first visit to Bihar since India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Modi accepted the greetings from the people gathered on both sides of the road showering flower petals while women were performing the aarti.
PM Modi’s roadshow in Patna was last held on 12 May 2024, during the Lok Sabha elections when he was accompanied by Nitish Kumar, highlighting the NDA’s dual-leadership governance.
As Bihar gears up for the assembly elections to be held in October-November, this roadshow was considered crucial for the NDA.
But Nitish Kumar’s absence from today’s roadshow surprised many.
Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal had earlier announced that this would be a non-political event organised by NGOs and supported by the NDA partners. But the absence of other alliance partners on the occasion proved that it was just another event of the Bihar BJP in its continued effort to exploit Modi’s image to a maximum level before the assembly elections.
After the roadshow, Modi met BJP MPs, MLAs, MLCs and party officials at the party office to review the preparations and groundwork for the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections 2025.
On the second day of his Bihar visit, the prime minister is scheduled to address a huge public meeting at Bikramganj in the Rohtas district, where a large number of BJP workers from the Shahabad region comprising Rohtas, Kaimur, Bhojpur and Buxar, are expected to attend the rally.
His visit to the Shahabad region assumes special significance given the upcoming assembly elections as the NDA could not fare well in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and lost important seats like Ara, Buxar and Karakat. All these seats were wrested by the INDIA bloc from the ruling NDA.
