Bihar: With 26 rallies across five phases, PM Narendra Modi led NDA campaign from front

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 26 rallies in Bihar as part of BJP's all-out effort to win the five-phase state polls that wrap up on Thursday.

The Prime Minister was BJP-led NDA's star campaigner as the coalition went into the polls without a chief ministerial face -the PM pitched as the face of development instead.

PM Modi was pitted against JD(U) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who led the grand coalition of JD(U), RJD and Congress.

BJP chief Amit Shah left nothing to chance and camped in the state for almost the whole of October, overseeing electoral preparations. He addressed 76 rallies in the state besides holding meetings of district leaders to ensure no small detail was overlooked.

A galaxy of central ministers, including foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, finance minister Arun Jaitley, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who hails from the state, flew in to address rallies. But it was home minister Rajnath Singh who clocked the most miles, addressing over 50 rallies over the five phases.

In all, the NDA held between 28 and 32 rallies every day to win over voters in the state where BJP has never been the dominant coalition partner and, hence, never had a chief minister of its own.

BJP was part of the ruling coalition in the Nitish Kumar government for eight years before the chief minister broke away.