Prime Minister and top crowd-puller Narendra Modi tops the BJP's list of 30-star campaigners for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections that is now out. Only two women figure on the list, which has no mention of Syed Shahnawaz Hussain or Rajiv Pratap Rudy – who both hail from the state.
Apart from Modi, BJP President J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, the state faces like Bihar President Sanjay Jaiswal and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, as well as former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP's Bihar election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis, find a place at the top.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das will also be a star campaigner, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and strong Hindutva face Yogi Adityanath will also be campaigning for the party in Phase 1 of the Bihar poll.
Five Union Ministers from the state – Ravi Shankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Nityanand Rai and R.K. Singh – also feature in the list. Former Union Minister from Bihar and currently BJP National Vice President Radha Mohan Singh is also on it.
The only two women faces are Smriti Irani and Nivedita Singh.
Jharkhand's first Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, Delhi MP and Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey, and Pataliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav are also in the list.
The 243-member Bihar Assembly will go to the polls in three phases on 28 October, 3 and 7 November, and the results will be announced on 10 November.
(This article has been republished in arrangement with IANS)
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