Bihar CM Nitish Kumar starts Assembly elections campaigning with "Har Ghar Dastak"

PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday visited 10 households in Patna city as the ruling Janata Dal (United) launched the ‘ Har Ghar Dastak’ programme whereby party workers will call on voters in their homes across the state to seek support. “I am here to register my attendance among the people.

The response is quite encouraging. We will have to knock each and every house,” Kumar told reporters as he wended his way from one house to another through the narrow and busy bylanes of Old Patna area. In the process, the chief minister was mobbed and cheered by the people. His party workers panned out in different parts of the state, each one of them visiting 10 households.

The first phase of the Har Ghar Dastak will conclude on July 11 after which JD(U) will assess the programme before commencing the second phase on July 21. “Our target is to cover one crore households with each party worker expected to approach the people in 10 houses daily,” said RCP Singh, party leader and Rajya Sabha member. He said one lakh party workers and activists will visit households and also tell people about the achievements of the JD(U) government during the nine-and-half years it has remained in power so far.

Party workers will also carry publicity materials and paste posters — with the chief minister’s photo and slogans such as ‘Aage Badhta Rahe Bihar’ and ‘Phir Ek Bar Nitish Kumar’ — on the walls of the houses. The party has already erected several billboards and hoardings across the state capital. All the hoardings carry the same photograph of the smiling chief minister, but slogans are different.

Bihar will have elections later this year as the current legislative assembly is set to expire later this year. In the Lok Sabha elections last year, the JD(U) was clearly outwitted by the BJP, which along with its allies won 31 out of 40 seats in the state, while the ruling party could win only two seats.