New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Bihar for the fourth time this year on 20 June, where he will address a public rally in Siwan. This will be his seventh visit to the poll-bound state since taking oath as Prime Minister for the third time in June 2024.
The string of visits by PM Modi—occurring well before the high-profile election campaign for Bihar formally begins in October—is being seen as part of the BJP’s outreach to consolidate perception and support in key regions, especially where the opposition Grand Alliance parties had performed well in the 2020 polls.
This election is widely seen as one that could, if the NDA wins, result in Bihar getting its first Chief Minister from the BJP.
In 2025, the PM had first visited Bhagalpur, which is in the Anga region, in February, and participated in events focused on regional development, including the inauguration of infrastructure projects.
Less than two months later, in April, he went to Madhubani to attend the National Panchayati Raj day programme and launched multiple development projects worth over Rs 13,480 crore. Madhubani is part of the Mithila region.
In May, the Prime Minister was active in Patna and Bikramganj (Rohtas district), where he inaugurated the new terminal at Patna Airport, laid the foundation stone for Bihta Airport, and unveiled development projects totalling over Rs 48,520 crore. Patna is in the Magadh region, while Rohtas is part of the Shahabad (Bhojpur) region. He also held a massive roadshow in Patna during this visit.
This month, he is scheduled to address a large rally—referred to locally as a “raila”—in Siwan, which is in the Saran region.
This series of visits have come amidst the surveys being carried out by the BJP that have indicated that if the polls were to happen now, the NDA will win anything in the range of 125-152 seats in the state where the magic mark is 122.
The PM immediately after taking oath in the third week of June last year, inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University, located in the Magadh region.
Later in November, he laid the foundation stone for AIIMS Darbhanga and launched development projects worth approximately Rs 12,100 crore. Darbhanga comes within the Mithila region.
Then in November, the Prime Minister visited Jamui, which is in the Munger region, to commemorate “Janjatiya Gaurav Divas” to mark the beginning of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of freedom fighter Birsa Munda, a revered figure among tribal communities. During the visit, he launched and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs 6,640 crore.
As per official records, Bihar is administratively divided into nine major regions—Mithila, Magadh, Shahabad (Bhojpur), Anga, Saran, Munger, Seemanchal, Tirhut, and Kosi.
So far, Prime Minister Modi has covered six of these regions through his visits: Mithila (Madhubani, Darbhanga), Magadh (Nalanda, Patna), Anga (Bhagalpur), Saran (Siwan), Shahabad (Rohtas), and Munger (Jamui).The remaining three regions—Seemanchal, Tirhut, and Kosi—are yet to feature in his current outreach but are expected to see his rallies in the coming days.Notably, in the last Assembly elections, the NDA had performed strongly in northern and north-eastern Bihar, particularly in the Tirhut and Seemanchal regions.
In contrast, the Grand Alliance, or Mahagathbandhan, fared better in central and southern Bihar, including Magadh and Bhojpur, where the NDA struggled to find traction.
In the 2020 elections, the NDA secured a majority by winning 125 out of 243 seats. This included the Bharatiya Janata Party with 74 seats, Janata Dal (United) with 43, and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) with 4 seats each.
In the Tirhut region—which includes Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Sheohar, and East and West Champaran—NDA secured 31 out of 42 seats. In the Seemanchal region, comprising Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia, and Katihar, the NDA won 13 of 24 seats, while the Grand Alliance secured 6 and the AIMIM made significant inroads with 5 seats.In the wider Mithilanchal region, which includes Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Saharsa, and Madhepura, the NDA claimed 29 of the 47 seats.
The NDA also won 11 of the 21 seats in the Patna region (Patna and Nalanda) and secured 9 out of 12 seats in the Bhagalpur region, which includes Bhagalpur and Banka.On the other hand, the Grand Alliance, comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Indian National Congress (INC), and the Left parties, won a total of 110 seats.
Regionally, the alliance performed well in Magadh—covering Gaya, Aurangabad, Nawada, Jehanabad, and Arwal—where it secured 16 of the 25 seats, and in the Shahabad or Bhojpur region—which includes Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, and Kaimur—where it won 15 out of 22 seats.
The Saran region, including Saran, Siwan, and Gopalganj, also saw a strong Grand Alliance showing, with the bloc winning 15 out of 24 seats.
In the Patna region, the alliance won 10 of the 21 seats, and in the Kosi region—Khagaria and Begusarai—it secured 6 out of 11 seats.
In Mithilanchal, the alliance claimed 18 of the 47 seats, while in Tirhut, it managed only 11 out of 42.
The Grand Alliance struggled in Seemanchal, taking just 6 of the 24 seats because of AIMIM’s impact.
In the Munger region, which includes Munger, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, and Jamui, it secured 4 out of 11 seats. In the Bhagalpur region, it won only 3 out of 12 seats.By covering regions where the Grand Alliance did well in 2020—such as Magadh, Bhojpur, Saran, and Anga—PM Modi and the BJP appear to be working on increasing the party’s popularity in areas where the BJP has traditionally been weak, rather than taking the much easier route of focusing on “favourable” seats.