A tea stall with Narendra Modi's poster and slogan
, the BJP's candidate for Prime minister, will visit Patna on October 27 for a rally, but for those who find that a long wait, a cup of tea could help.
Leaders from the BJP in Bihar are renaming existing roadside stalls that sell tea as "NaMo stalls."
"Many owners of roadside tea shops came to us and said they feel proud that Narendra Modi used to sell tea in trains in his childhood and has risen to such a height that he has been named as BJP's PM candidate. They expressed solidarity with him," said a BJP leader named Nitin Navin.
So Mr Navin and others say they have pasted Mr Modi's poster along with his slogan -
Nayi soch, Nayi umeed (New thinking, New hope) at nearly 20 stalls so far and plan to deliver 400 stalls before Mr Modi's rally.
The BJP says that the Bihar government, headed by Nitish Kumar, has orchestrated a visit to Patna at the same time by the President of the country to combat Mr Modi's star power. (
Nitish Kumar trying to sabotage Narendra Modi's Bihar rally, alleges former deputy)
For years, Bihar was off-limits for Mr Modi because of a political restraining order from Mr Kumar, who was an ally of the BJP. Earlier this year, when Mr Modi was picked by the BJP to head its national campaign, Mr Kumar amputated the partnership, evicting the BJP from his government. He said that Mr Modi's promotion proved that the BJP was planning to pick him as its presumptive prime minister.
Mr Kumar said that was unacceptable because like other detractors of the BJP leader, he alleges that Mr Modi is a divisive leader who did not stop hundreds of Muslims from being killed in riots in Gujarat in 2002.