Amit Shah to arrive in Patna today on two-day visit to Bihar

By Amit Kumar
New Delhi [India], April 1 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to arrive in Patna today to address a public meeting in Nawada on Sunday.
His visit comes amid the tension that erupted over the communal clashes at Sasaram in Rohtas district and Bihar Sharif town during the Ram Navami festivities.
Shah will be in Bihar for a two-day visit during which he is likely to hold a meeting with senior party leaders to chalk out a strategy in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, Shah's visit to Sasaram in Bihar's Rohtas has been called off due to the imposition of Section 144 following clashes in the district.
Prohibitory orders were clamped on Sasaram and Bihar Sharif towns, the headquarters of Rohtas and Nalanda districts respectively, following communal tensions that erupted during the Ram Navami festivities on Friday.
The district administration imposed section 144 in the area.
Shah was earlier scheduled to come on Sunday, but there has been a slight change in his itinerary schedule and now he will reach the state capital on Saturday evening.
Vijay Kumar Sinha, Opposition leader in Bihar Assembly told ANI that Shah's visit to Bihar's every district is part of his Lok Sabha pravas.
"He has visited Bihar earlier also. There is a program in Nawada tomorrow, as well as there was a program in Sasaram but due to administrative failure and instability in Bihar, the atmosphere has been tense due to communal clashes in Sasaram, Bihar Sharif, Bhagalpur."
He further slammed Nitish Kumar government for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and also displaying incapability of preventing communal incidents in the state.
"The Law and order situation has collapsed in the state and It is unfortunate that an anarchy-creating mentality is being promoted in Bihar. This is surprising and sad that this type of incident took place when our Home Minister is scheduled to visit. Bihar government has completely failed in the matter of law and order," Sinha told ANI.
A senior JDU leader on the condition of anonymity told ANI that Shah, during his visit should consider the proposal by the Bihar government for the special status for the state.
"Home Minister Amit Shah is arriving in Bihar today. We will welcome him as a Home Minister and the people of Bihar are expecting that he would consider the proposal of special status to the state that is pending before his government," the JDU leader said.
Madhaw Anand, Secretary General of Rashtriya Lok Janta Dal told ANI that the party is hoping that Shah will take note of the violent incident that took place recently in the state.
"Our party welcomes Home Minister Amit Shah on his Bihar visit again. He is the dynamic leader of the country and his vision towards development is highly appreciable. We know that law and order in Bihar have totally collapsed and hoping that honourable Union Home Minister will take note of it," the leader said.
He further hit out at the Nitish Kumar government accusing it of "misleading" people before the Home Minister's visit.
"This is very sad to see that one of a senior politician of the state and Chief Minister was giving provocative remarks before the arrival of Amit Shah in the state. In a democracy, everyone has the right to do political rallies and their party program but it is unfortunate that the Chief Minister of Bihar rather than welcoming him was trying to mislead the people of the state" he added.
This is Shah's fourth visit to the state in seven months since his party was ousted from power in the state in August 2022.
Last year, Amit Shah visited Punia considered to be the capital of the Seemanchal region.
Later, in October, he visited Sitab Diara, the birthplace of socialist veteran late Jai Prakash Narayan.
In February this year, he visited Valmakinagar and Patna the same day (Feb 25) and addressed Kisan Samagam organized on the occasion of the birth anniversary of peasant leader Sahajanand Saraswati in Patna, in a bid to woo the Bhumihar community that he came from.