PATNA, Nov. 10 -- In the high stakes electoral battle in Bihar, the short campaigning period due to important festivals, disruptions due to inclement weather and limited time led to brisk electioneering by big faces of all political parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the vigorous NDA campaign with 14 rallies, besides road shows, to add to the 35 rallies by Amit Shah, 21 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and 15 by BJP president JP Nadda, besides several others by other senior BJP leaders, including CMs of various states. Yogi Adityanath addressed maximum rallies among the CMs from the BJP ruled states. The top four central leaders of the BJP alone did close to 75 rallies, said a senior party leader. The number of rallies by the PM was more than in 2020 despite a small campaigning window and several public meetings in the state ahead of the election. He addressed a dozen rallies in Bihar this year before the announcement of election and inaugurated development projects worth thousands of crores prior to setting the stage. Shah, who started off earlier in Bihar with his first rally on October 17, also addressed four workers' meetings in different parts of the state as he seemed to be controlling the party activities. PM started off from his Karpooriji Gram visit in Samastipur on October 24 and capped it off with one in Bettiah on November 8, covering Chapra, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, Saharsa, Katihar, Ara, Nawada, Bhagalpur, Araria, Aurangabad, Bhabua. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also held over 70 rallies - cross-crossing the state, though after October 30 he was not seen with the PM. He was not there in the PM's roadshow in Patna also, though party leaders attributed it to his engagement in other parts. Kumar also travelled long distances by road when the weather did not allow choppers to fly to demonstrate his fitness even at his age and speculations about his health. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who is the CM face of the opposition alliance, did around 160 rallies, hopping from one place to the other and often seen running to his chopper after public meetings to cover as much as possible. His voice choked, but his stamina didn't. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister MP Priyanka Gandhi also devoted more time to Bihar than ever before to resurrect the fortunes of their party, which once dominated the political landscape of Bihar. While Rahul Gandhi addressed 14 rallies, Priyanka addressed 13 and Congress president Kharge four. Social analyst Prof NK Choudhary said that there was nothing surprising in the way campaigning has gone on in the largely personality-centric election, in which candidates have little significance - both for the political parties as well as the people at large. "The election has been fought on big faces and they have carried the mantle of their respective parties. It is not good for healthy democracy, but this is the way it has been. All the parties seem to bank more on their top leaders than the worth of candidates. Unfortunately, people also think on those lines only. In BJP, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah remain its trump cards," he added. Former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies DM Diwakar said that Bihar being the only state going to election this year, it was in the focus of all parties and gave them the opportunity to put in all their might in the state, which has remained a challenge for all of them. "Here the people have not allowed any political party to hold sway and made coalition politics led by regional parties a reality. While the Congress struggles to regain its foothold, BJP has found the going always tough to have a government of its own in Bihar, like it did in neighbouring UP or Jharkhand. The emergence of Jan Suraj Party (JSP), potential of AIMIM and a number of rebel candidates has also challenged the status quo politics among the three players - RJD, JD-U and the BJP and even a slight drift in the vote share to any new player has the potential to affect them either way," he added....