Patna, June 07 (PTI) Close to 40 lakh people across Bihar watched Union Home Minister Amit Shahs 'first of its kind' virtual rally on Sunday, which exceeded all expectations, state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal claimed.

Party sources said at least 10,000 big LED screens and more than 50,000 smart TVs were installed across the state for connecting with party workers down to the booth level. The state has an estimated 72,000 polling booths.

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They, however, rubbished as grossly inflated the allegation by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav that altogether 72,000 LED screens were installed at a whopping cost of Rs 144 crore for the event where Shah set the tone for the assembly elections in the state due in the next few months.

In a video message that he issued shortly after the rally was over, Jaiswal, the ruling partys chief whip in the Lok Sabha, also claimed an estimated one crore people across the country watched the rally on the numerous YouTube channels and Facebook pages run by the BJP, its state unit here and those of individual leaders.

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In Bihar, the number of people who joined us in the virtual rally is more than 39 lakh while across the country the number is expected to be around one crore.. my profuse thanks to all for making this rally a success that has exceeded all expectations, Jaiswal said.

Scores of leaders and journalists watched the rally at the Atal Sabhagar auditorium at the partys state headquarters on Birchand Patel Marg here.

Senior leaders like Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and other members of the state cabinet took the dais alongside Jaiswal, while those in Delhi where Shah spoke, included prominent leaders from Bihar like Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nityanand Rai and Ashwini Kumar Choubey, besides BJPs well-known Muslim face Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.

After Shah concluded his speech, the partys Bihar unit general secretary Devesh Kumar read out a pledge which all BJP leaders, including Shah, repeated with their outstretched right arm raised to the chest level.

Under the pledge, the BJP workers resolved to strive for achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modis goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, encouraging value-based politics, purchasing locally manufactured goods and taking forward the drive against the COVID 19 pandemic.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)