Bandh may affect BJP Bihar rally

Narendra Modi’s scheduled rally in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on March 3 is likely to be badly affected by the ruling JD(U)’s statewide bandh on March 2, which has generated support from the CPI and the CPI(M) and is compounded by a bandh called in Jharkhand the same day by the AJSU.
With the BJP’s PM candidate slated to address his first rally in Bihar after last October’s terror-hit maiden rally in Patna, the saffron party has been aggressively mobilising support to make the event a grand success. But CM and JD(U) stalwart Nitish Kumar’s statewide bandh call against the Congress-led Centre’s reluctance to grant Bihar special state status has thrown a spanner on the travel plans of BJP supporters from across Bihar and Jharkhand to reach Muzaffarpur. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi accused the JD(U) of shifting its bandh date from March 1 to March 2 in order to “disturb” Mr Modi’s rally.