Live: Went to Patna blast victim's homes to share grief, says Modi

3.45 pm: Visited Bihar again to share grief in person: Modi

Addressing the media after returning from Nalanda, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that he came to Bihar again listening to a call from his conscience.

“I had a wish to visit the families of the victims of the Patna serial blasts that happened during my rally last week. I kept the proposal before the Bihar BJP and they accepted it. Because of that I am here today. Due to bad weather this morning the helicopter could not take off on time and I also could not visit two of the families. But I hope to meet them in future. For those who were killed and injured due to the blasts, the BJP extends its heartfelt sympathy for them,” Modi said.

“I want to salute the people of Bihar who like the freedom fighters during Birtish rule stood steadfastly against the atrocities and fought them bravely. On 27 October, the people of Bihar showed similar behaviour by exemplifying immense patience and by not panicking even after blasts happened one after another. Even witnessing such a bloody sight by one’s own eyes, people did not run helter-skelter in fear despite a huge gathering,” the Gujarat chief minister said.

“Many universities in the world study this kind of behaviour. I hope some university in the world will study this trend of calam and patience among the people of Bihar,” he said.

The Gujarat chief minsiter, who did not take any question from the reporters, wished one and all for Diwali at the end of his message.

“On the eve of the Diwali I wish everyone in Bihar and all countrymen living in India and abroad a happy Diwali. I also wish the people of Bihar a very happy Chhatth Puja which is coming soon,” Modi said.

3.30 pm: Sushil Modi blames Nitish govt for slack security

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has blamed the Bihar government under Nitish Kumar for poor security arrangements during the Hunkar rally in Patna on 27 October.

“Had @Nkumar made security arrangements for @Namo’s Rally what it was in JDU ’s Rally then Namo wouldn’t have visted Bihar again in 1 week,” Sushil Modi tweeted.

3.00 pm: Will Nitish like this tweet from Sushil Kumar Modi

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396571209053114369

2.20 pm: Modi heads for Nitish’s bastion Nalanda

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has tweeted that after offering his condolences to the family of Patna serial blasts victim Bindeshwar Chowdhury in Begusarai, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is now on his way to Nalanda to meet family members of Rajesh Kumar. Incidentally, Narendra Modi’s political bete noire Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar represents Nalanda in the state assembly.

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396557549870133248

1.50 pm: Modi starts for Begusarai

After refuelling the chopper, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has started off for Khodawanpur in Bihar’s Begusarai district to meet family members of another victim Bindeshwar Chowdhury.

1.45 pm: Modi shares emotional tale about victim Bharat Rajak

Inclement weather also did not permit Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s chopper to land in Supaul forcing him to cancel the visit. Modi, instead called up the family of Bharat Rajak, who had passed away in Patna on 27 October in one of the serial blasts.

“Spoke to Shankar, the son of Shaheed Bharat Rajak over telephone. People from his village shared a very touching anecdote,” Modi tweeted.

“Shaheed Bharat Rajak had a pet pigeon who would stay next to his bed. Bharat would not begin his day without feeding grain to the pigeon. Pigeon refused to leave dead body of Bharat & travelled with the body till the funeral. Even now the pigeon stays around Bharat’s room,” the Gujarat chief minister tweeted.

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396577155972202496

1.30 pm: Modi telephones victim’s wife in Gopal Ganj, expresses condolences

Unable to land in Gopal Ganj, Bihar Chief Minister called up Patna blasts victim Munna Shrivastav’s wife and consoled her in this hour of tragedy. Modi tweeted: “Spoke to wife of Shaheed Munna Srivastava on phone. We are all a part of one family & stand by them in this hour of grief.”

BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted that the Gujarat chief minister spoke to the victim’s wife in Gujarati as she was in Dhanbad and conversant with the language.

12.40 pm: Inclement weather plays the spoiler for Modi

Bad weather has forced Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to return to Patna cutting short his visit to Supaul where he was scheduled to meet kin of a victim of the Patna serial blast on 27 October, IBN7 reported.

The chopper returned to Patna to refuel and attempt to go to Begusarai and Nalanda.

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396532542347550720

12.20 pm: Fog keeps Modi’s chopper at bay in Gopal Ganj

As per latest reports on IBN7 Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s chopper fails to land in Gopal Ganj due to inclement weather.

https://twitter.com/abpnewstv/status/396532286146879489

11.30 am: Modi on way to Gopal Ganj

In the second leg of his Bihar tour today, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited the house of Vikas Singh in Kaimur. Singh was one of the six victims of the Patna serial blasts on 27 October.

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/396516619691634688

https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/396518558592557058

Former Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi tweeted:

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396532277229805568

11.00 pm: Modi reaches Kaimur, meets victim Vikas Kumar’s family

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kaimur to meet the family of Vikas Kumar who was also a victim of the Patna serial blasts on 27 October. BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi accompanying Narendra Modi tweeted that a cheque of Rs 5 lakh has been given to the victim’s next of kin.

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396513085503983616

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ht&src=hash

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/396510950288683010

10.45 am: Politics over grief takes centre stage

Amid the tears of the bereaved families, the politics of sorrow has already started. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar criticised the BJP for its politics fuelling social divisions.

“Let the BJP do whatever it wants. The people of Bihar will never support this divisive politics of the BJP,” Kumar said.

The Congress also raised questions about the motive of Modi’s visit.

“Has Modi ever visited the houses of the victims of the Gujarat riots of 2002? He is simply polarising the society,” a Congress leader said.

Meanwhile, JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari also expressed reservations on the timing of the visit to Bihar by the Gujarat chief minister. “He has every right to come to Bihar. But when he knows that his visit might create tensions he should have done that,” said Tiwari. Another JD(U) leader KC Tyagi also lashed out at Modi. “This is all drama,” Tyagi said.

Congress spokesman and Deoria MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh also wondered about the reason of Modi’s visit.

“When the blasts were happening he continued with his speech and waved good bye and left. Now what is the point of coming back,” Singh said.

https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/396537897894952961

10.35 pm: Modi winds up Gaurichak visit, leaves for Kaimur

After sharing solemn moments with the grief-stricken family of Rajnarain Singh, the Gujarat chief minister has started for his next destination of Kaimur to visit the family of another blast victim. However, the delayed schedule has put a question mark on Modi’s participation in the BJP’s Asthi Kalash Yatra as there are conflicting reports emerging about his presence in the programme.

https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/396504173971124224

10.00 am: Modi arrives at Gaurichak

https://twitter.com/SushilModi/status/396507194138443776

Narendra Modi has reached Gaurichak, 70 km away from Patna where he met the family members of 65-year-old Rajnarain Singh who was killed before Modi could begin speaking at Gandhi Maidan on 27 October.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told CNN-IBN that the Gujarat chief minister condoled the families of the blast victim and also handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh.

“Families are very happy that Modi came to visit them,” he said.

BJP will also erect statues of all the six victims who died in the Patna blast at the party’s expense.

Modi will not participate in BJP’s Asthi-Kalash Yatra for the blast victims. The party will tour the entire state with the victim’s ashes before the cremation.

BJP also slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for not meeting the families of the victims, saying Modi will compensate for that callousness.

Tight security arrangements have been made for Modi’s visit. A thousand Special task Force jawans and around 100 inspector rank officers will be present at the places where the BJP leader is scheduled to visit.

The Gujarat chief minister will visit the native villages of all six Patna serial blasts victims in Patna, Kaimur, Gopal Ganj, Supaul, Begusarai and Nalanda districts.

Modi will meet the grieving families to express his personal condolences to them for the death of their kin in the serial blasts during the Hunkar Rally in Patna on 27 October.

Modi flew by a chartered plane from Pune and reached Patna at 11 pm on Friday night. He stayed at the VVIP guest house as a state guest.

9:00 am Modi to meet Patna blast victims today, heavy fog delays schedule

Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will today reach out to the families of the six people who died in the serial blasts in Patna, ahead of a rally that he addressed at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on 27 October.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that Modi will visit the houses of the six victims in different parts of Bihar.

The people killed in the blasts belonged to six different districts of Bihar. So, Modi will essentially visit  six villages in Gaurichak, Kaimur, Gopalganj, Supaul, Begusarai and Nalanda districts of Bihar.

He is also expected to hand over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the families, NDTV reported .

Sources told CNN-IBN that Modi will have an unprecedented security cover for his visit.

For his visit, there will be unprecedented security cover at all the six locations.

About a dozen IPS officers from Gujarat—from SP to additional DG—rank, including police commissioner, additional police commissioners and DCPs are already in Patna.

Apart from Bihar police officials, 35 Black Cat Commandos from the NSG and 70 personnel from Gujarat Police are escorting him. The Gujarat Police has also sent seven bomb disposal squads to search different places he will visit.

Modi will start his day by visiting 65-year-old Rajnarain Singh’s home in Kamarji village in Gaurichack, 70 km away from Patna. Modi was scheduled to start his visit at 7 am but due to dense fog,  Modi’s visit has been delayed. “Helicopter flight of @Namo delayed because of dense fog.Visibility only 300 mt till 8.40am.Required 600 mt .likely to take off at 9am, (sic)” tweeted senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

Singh was a marginal farmer with two sons in the army and a third working at a petrol pump. On the fateful day, when he was starting for Patna in the morning, his family tried to convince him not to go as he was not in best of health. But a politically conscious Singh wanted to hear Modi in person.

The blast killed him even before Modi could begin speaking at Gandhi Maidan.

Modi’s would also stop in Nitish’s home turf of Ahiapur Musahri village in Nalanda. Here he will to the house of 28-year-old Rajesh Kumar who died in the blast had done a ITI course and was in a private job. Kumar was visiting home during the festive season and was a self-proclaimed Modi fan. He told his family and friends that Modi’s Patna rally was a must-attend occasion for him. Like Rajesh, Munna Shrivastava was the sole bread winner for his family. His father and mother had died early.

He had taken a loan from a bank, bought a Tata Magic and drove it for living. Munna is survived by his wife, a daughter and one younger brother. Likewise Kaimur’s 28-year-old Vikas Kumar Singh, a contractual assistant statistician with Bihar government, is also survived by his wife and a six-year-old daughter, as well as an eight-year-old son.

Besides the Gujarat chief minister will visit the homes of Supaul’s Bharat Rajak (59) and Begusarai’s Bindeshwari Chaudhari (55) last.