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Bihar poll mode: Within a month or so, BJP leaders will travel to the state to establish connections and seek feedback
Sources said NDA will contest this election in the name of incumbent CM Nitish Kumar. (PTI File)
The battle for Bihar assembly is scheduled towards the end of 2025.
Currently, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is in power in the state led by Janata Dal (JD) United chief Nitish Kumar as the chief minister.
The strength of the Bihar assembly is 243 seats, and the NDA has 138. At present, the BJP is the single largest party with 84 MLAs.
With a few months left for the election in the eastern state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started preparing its strategy. It is learnt that the saffron party will draw inspiration from its recent experience in Delhi, particularly the relentless public connect and well-thought-out election machinery that yielded favourable results.
Within a month or so, the saffron party leaders will descend on the state, travelling its length and breadth to establish connections with the people. Party leaders would be asked to undergo night stays at villages and also in slum areas, just like Delhi leaders did.
CASTE, SOCIAL ENGINEERING & FEEDBACK
Caste domination is an extremely crucial factor in Bihar’s electoral politics, and this is already on the minds of the saffron party leaders. A reach-out will also be done to every stratum of society and community in a bid to continue garnering support for the NDA.
Social engineering will play a big role, and the BJP and its alliance partners will put large emphasis on that factor. The leaders who hit the ground will include union ministers, MPs, MLAs, and office-bearers from across the country. Man-to-man marking, deployment from multiple states (depending on the geographical location, caste equation, and language commonality) has been carefully planned by the BJP in multiple elections to ensure deployment of political leaders.
Sources aware of the development have told CNN-News18 that the NDA will contest this election in the name of incumbent CM Nitish Kumar. However, the decision on who will become the next chief minister of Bihar will be made only after the results and the numbers are out. The leaders of the NDA will consult Kumar after the election results before making any final decision.
Through its outreach, the BJP does not want to make it more of a canvassing or campaigning strategy, but wants to make it a two-way traffic – seeking feedback from people on the ground and then looking at providing solutions according to the ideas received.
Establishing two-way communication has been extremely beneficial for the BJP, not just in the recent Delhi elections, but also during the comprehensive wins in both Haryana and Maharashtra.
The leaders who hit the ground will also stress upon people the work that has been done by the Modi government at the Centre and the Nitish Kumar government in the state for the welfare of the masses.
BUDGET BOOST, SURVEYS
Leaders will also highlight the importance given to Bihar in the recent budget by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Many approvals were given for projects in Bihar to ensure development, welfare and health infrastructure. The long-pending demand of forming a board for Makhana, which is a superfood in itself, has also been honoured by the Modi cabinet in this year’s budget.
The party is also looking at holding multiple surveys before arriving at any candidate or seat allocation discussion. It is pretty likely that the BJP will contest around 100 seats, and anywhere between 90-95 seats could be given to the JDU for contest. The remaining seats will be contested by the other alliance partners. Apart from JDU and BJP, the other alliance partners, both in the state and the centre, include Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas Party), Jiten Ram Manjhi’s HAM party, and Upendra Kushwaha’s party. However, the exact seat distribution will only take place once the survey report comes and feedback is sought on the ground. Winnability will be the biggest criteria for awarding tickets to any party or person.
