IANS/Patna

Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav yesterday said the grand alliance of his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress will benefit if Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses more rallies in Bihar during campaigning for assembly elections.
“More rallies Modi holds in Bihar will benefit the grand alliance and provide advantage for us in the elections,” Yadav told reporters.
Modi will address eight more rallies in Bihar in the third and fourth phases of the staggered elections, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders said here yesterday.
The statement puts at rest speculation over Modi’s rallies after they were cancelled on October 16 in Buxar, Paliganj and Vaishali, which go to polls on October 28 in the third phase.
BJP’s state president Mangal Pandey said Modi would address four election rallies ahead of the third phase and four rallies before the fourth phase.
The rallies will be held in Saran, Vaishali and Nalanda districts on October 25 and in Siwan and Buxar on October 26.
The prime minister will also address rallies on October 27 in Bettah, Motihari and Sitamarhi.
Polling for the fourth phase will be held on November 1 for 55 assembly seats.
Modi addressed 11 rallies during the first and second phase.
Acknowledged as a master orator by followers and political adversaries alike, Modi was initially scheduled to set a record by addressing around 40 rallies as the star campaigner of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance - the most by any recent prime minister.
But after his rallies were called off, his arch rivals in the grand alliance repeatedly claimed it was done because the BJP sensed defeat.
No prime minister before Modi has visited Bihar more than three times during state assembly elections in the past.
Meanwhile Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, accompanied by two election commissioners, arrived in Patna yesterday on a two-day visit to review preparations for the fourth and fifth phases of elections, an official said.
“... Zaidi held discussions with representatives of various political parties and officials on election preparedness in the constituencies going to the polls in the fourth and fifth phases,” R Lakshmanan, Bihar’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer, said.
Zaidi will also hold discussions with top officials, including chief electoral officer, other election department officials and district-level officials, to know about the elaborate security plans for the polls, he said.