Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Nabin arrived in Ranchi on Saturday on a two-day visit to Jharkhand and held numerous meetings with party office bearers, elected representatives and core committee members, in addition to addressing them. A ‘Prabuddhjan Samvad’ (dialogue with intellectuals) was also held, party leaders said.

This is Nabin’s first visit to Jharkhand since becoming the party’s national president. Nabin was given a grand welcome by senior BJP leaders, including Jharkhand BJP president Aditya Sahu, Union minister Sanjay Seth, former chief ministers Arjun Munda, Raghubar Das and Champai Soren at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport.

Nabin offered floral tributes to the statue of tribal icon Birsa Munda at Birsa Chowk in Ranchi. “This is my birthplace. Visiting Jharkhand is like coming to my second home,” Nabin told reporters.

The party chief later reached party headquarters, where he held a meeting with members of parliament (MPs), members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) and the party’s core committee members regarding strengthening the organisation in the state, party leaders said. Later, he participated in a ‘Prabuddhjan Samvad’ (dialogue with intellectuals).

On Sunday, party leaders said Nabin will visit Bokaro for a personal engagement, besides holding meetings with district presidents, in-charges and party officials back in Ranchi.

Key NDA leaders meet Nabin

With Nabin’s visit preceding the elections for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, leaders of the NDA allies also called in Nabin at the party headquarters. Leaders from the NDA alliance partners welcomed and felicitated Nabin upon his arrival in Jharkhand.

Those who met Nabin included AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, party’s Giridih MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary, JD(U) MLA Saryu Roy, AJSU MLA Nirmal Mahto (alias Tiwari Mahto), LJP State President Birendra Pradhan, and MLA Janardan Paswan.