Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Bihar next month to take party in the birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.
This would be Mr. Shah’s third visit to Bihar after the formation of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government in the State. Mr. Shah previously visited Purnea and Kishanganj last year on September 23 and 24 to discuss the border issue and also to address a public meeting.
His next visit was on October 11 to take part in programmes to mark the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan at Sitab Diara.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji will be chief guest during the birth anniversary programme of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati on February 22. It will be organised at Bapu Sabhagar and thousands of farmers will be attending it,” Vivek Thakur, BJP Rajya Sabha MP said in Patna on Saturday.
Saraswati was a farmer from Uttar Pradesh and worked in Bihar to mobilises farmers against the zamindari system. He was a Bhumihar by caste and fought against the land owners.
Mr. Shah’s visit to the State also assumes significance as it is planned when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is on his Samadhan Yatra, poll strategist Prashant Kishore is on Jan Suraj yatra march and a casted-based survey is on in Bihar. Besides, farmers are sitting on dharna protesting over inadequate compensation for their land to be acquired for a power plant in Buxar.
The Union Minister’s visit is also seen as a start to preparations for the Lok Sabha election next year. Bihar send 40 MPs to Delhi.
Mr. Thakur said on Saturday that the Bihar government does not stand the pain of the farmers whereas the Narendra Modi government is continuously working for the benefit of the farmers.
“Amit Shah ji will not only understand the pain of the Bihar farmers but will also interact with them. It would be a grand event,” Mr. Thakur said.
Mr. Thakur is the son of senior-most BJP leader Dr. C.P. Thakur, also a Bhumihar, and was the first to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sahajanand Saraswati.
