BJP gears up for Amit Shah's April 2 visit in Bihar

The BJP has started preparations for Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit on April 2. Shah will address public and party meetings in Sasaram and Nawada on the occasion of Emperor Ashoka's birth anniversary.

This will be Shah's fourth visit to the state in the last eight months since the formation of the Grand Alliance government by CM Nitish Kumar on August 9 last year. However, this will be Shah's first visit to Bihar after appointing Samrat Choudhary as the party's state president.

Shah's visited Purnia and Kishanganj in September last year; Chhapra and Sitabdiara in Saran district in October last year and Valmikinagar in West Champaran and Patna on February 25 this year. During his visit to Sasaram on April 2, Shah will see a short inscription of Ashoka, the only one in Bihar, which was freed from encroachment by the Archaeological Survey of India in November last year on Choudhary's initiative.

On Wednesday, Choudhary was in Sasaram where he interacted with Rohtas district party functionaries as well as a group of panchayat mukhiyas from the district. He urged them to attend the rally to be held at the Railway Maidan on the occasion of Ashoka's birth anniversary celebrations. Chaudhary is also scheduled to visit Nawada soon.

Shah's visit also caught the attention of Nitish, who, while addressing the Ashoka birth anniversary organized by the JD(U) here on Wednesday, asked people to be wary of the BJP and also its “exploitation of the Mauryan dynasty emperor's birth anniversary for political gains”.