Strong NDA sentiment in Bihar: Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Arun Sao

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 16 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao on Thursday expressed confidence in the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) growing strength in Bihar ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, asserting that the impressive public response to the BJP's campaign reflected the strong sentiment in favour of the NDA.
Sao, who participated in two nomination rallies of BJP candidates in Bihar, told ANI that the turnout at both events underlined the rising support for the alliance.
"Today, I attended two nomination rallies of BJP candidates in Bihar... The impressive turnout at both rallies demonstrates the strong NDA sentiment in Bihar...", Sao said.
The BJP, in preparation for the elections, released a list of 40 star campaigners on Thursday, which includes top party leadership and influential public figures. Among those named are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Other notable names on the list include Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Giriraj Singh. The party has also included five Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled states: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The list features a mix of current and former ministers, party veterans, and popular personalities. Notably, former Union Minister Smriti Irani returns to the campaign trail, along with other former central ministers, including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Radha Mohan Singh, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, and Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
Besides him, both the deputy CMs of Bihar, Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, are on the roll, along with former deputy CM Renu Devi and several other state ministers.
The list also includes Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Union Water Minister CR Patil, Dr. Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, Prem Kumar, Nityanand Rai, Satish Chandra Dubey, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, Vinod Tawde, Babulal Marandi, Pradeep Kumar Singh, Gopaljee Thakur and Janak Ram.
It also features some of the biggest names from Bhojpuri cinema, including actor-singer-turned-politician Pawan Singh, Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan, and Dinesh Lal Yadav "Nirahua." The last date for nomination for the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections is October 17, while the polling will take place on November 6.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its third list of candidates for the Bihar assembly polls, which featured 18 names.
Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (United) released its second list of 44 candidates on Thursday, bringing the total number to 101, along with the BJP. Other NDA allies, including Rashtriya Lok Morcha and Hindustani Awam Morcha, have also declared their six candidates each, whereas the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas), headed by Chirag Paswan, is yet to field candidates on several seats.
While the National Democratic Alliance is set to kickstart their campaigning for the Bihar elections, the Mahagathbandhan is yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, also filed his nomination from Raghopur assembly constituency on Wednesday ahead of the assembly polls.
The last date for filing nominations for the first phase of the elections is October 17. Bihar will go to the polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the results will be declared on November 14. (ANI)