This Article is From Oct 26, 2013

Two days before Narendra Modi rally, his posters pulled down in Patna

Two days before Narendra Modi rally, his posters pulled down in Patna

The Patna district authorities said these hoardings were unauthorised and were obstructing traffic.

Patna: Narendra Modi will be in town on Sunday and an excited BJP is painting Patna in his colours. It encountered a road block though in its last-minute preparations on Friday when the district administration removed several posters and hoardings of its prime ministerial candidate.

The authorities said these hoardings were unauthorised and were obstructing traffic. But angry local BJP leaders alleged that government officials were following direct orders from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is Mr Modi's arch political rival.

The BJP team in charge of Mr Modi's logistics has already had a run-in with the state government over special traffic restrictions that it demanded at the time of Mr Modi's "Hunkar Rally" on Sunday to ensure smooth passage for vehicles ferrying people to the Gandhi Maidan venue.

Then, Gujarat government officials had requisitioned two bullet-proof SUVs for Mr Modi's cavalcade, but the Bihar government offered only bulletproof Ambassador car as it has only two such SUVs, which would be used by Nitish Kumar on Sunday.

The Ambassador will not do and Mr Modi's team is now getting bullet-proof SUVs from Delhi.

Nitish Kumar's party, the Janata Dal (United), has dismissed the BJP's complaint that the Chief Minister is using official machinery to impede its plans.

The two parties were partners till June this year, when Mr Kumar ended a 17-year coalition with the BJP, saying he could not accept its decision to place Mr Modi in charge of its national campaign. He predicted that the next step would be making Mr Modi its presumptive prime minister. The BJP did exactly that in September.

While they were partners, Mr Kumar refused to allow the BJP to invite Mr Modi, its star campaigner, to Bihar and also refused to share stage with him at public functions. Unfettered in June, the Bihar BJP immediately began planning Mr Modi's first public rally in the state.
 
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