BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi on the campaign trail in North Bihar
Bihar's Sushil Kumar Modi, seen as one of the staunchest supporters of the man he shares a surname with, said that he had "never seen such a wave", referring to what the BJP has constantly cited as the measure of the growing popularity of its prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi.
"I have never seen such a wave... two-four lakh people coming to a leader's rally isn't a common occurrence," Mr Modi told NDTV.
Sushil Modi has been an unabashed Narendra Modi fan for many months now. As he campaigns in northern Bihar, the BJP's top leader in the state also said, "People have had enough and want an alternative. They see that in Narendra Modi." (
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Sushil Modi also told NDTV that his party, expected to do well in Bihar, will not engineer the fall of the Janata Dal (United) government after the general elections, but said he expected it to cave in due to "internal problems."
Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar runs a minority government in Bihar and his party has been hit by a series of desertions of late. Any more crossovers will tilt the balance. Three MLAs were suspended recently. (
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Sushil Modi was Bihar's deputy chief minister when he and 10 other ministers were unceremoniously dumped from the government by Mr Kumar last June as he announced a split with the BJP, ending a 17-year alliance.
Opinion polls have said Mr Kumar's decision is likely to boomerang; he dismissed such surveys today as "public relations exercises" and said he did not regret divorcing the BJP for naming Narendra Modi as the face of its campaign for the 2014 general elections.
But Mr Kumar admitted that the outcome of the general election will impact the state government.
Assembly elections are due in Bihar only late next year.
In 2009, the JD (U) had bagged 20 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in partnership with the BJP, which had won 12. An NDTV opinion poll conducted earlier this month said it was likely to win only four this time, placing third after the BJP's alliance and Lalu Prasad's alliance with the Congress.