NEW DELHI: The BJP will aggressively showcase the Rs 1.25 lakh crore special Bihar package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the election campaign.
Sources said plans were even afoot in the government to lay foundation stone of some projects before the model code of conduct likely to kick with the expected announcement of elections in next a few days.
As the party will not declare its chief ministerial candidate, Modi will be face of BJP’s campaign in the state. The party had prepared well before the package was announced by Modi during a function on Tuesday. “We celebrated the event across the state by organising various events. People played holi and burst crackers to celebrate the announcement,” a party strategist told Express.
BJP sources claimed that the party cadre have already visited most of the homes. “They first visited with an invite for Modi’s four rallies planned in four zones of the state. During this interaction they engaged with the families,” party leader said. The booth level workers have also started making rounds of the voters in their areas to map the entire state on the basis of the feedback.
Though, the BJP leaders were not willing to concede the ‘shift’ but Prime Minister Modi during his last speech had not targeted Lalu Yadav so much as much he did Nitish Kumar. Yadav has a committed vote bank of not only Yadavs but also Muslims with him. Stronger attack on Yadav could further polarise them.
Modi’s fourth rally, the last during the current leg, will be held in Bhagalpur on September 1, where the party has hired vacant land from the rarely used airport.
Interestingly, Nitish and Lalu are holding their rally on August 30 in Patna, so both BJP and JDU-RJD combine are trying to bring in massive crowds to their rallies to claim a numerical victory ahead of election.
Modi’s rallies have been planned in a way that each event covers 10 parliamentary constituencies. Apart from BJP’s most saleable face’s rallies, the party is also carrying out parivartan yatras across the state where senior central leaders are participating.
These yatras focus on clutch of assembly constituencies, while for each of the assembly seat BJP is running a rath (customised vehicle) which shows videos of PM’s speeches but also programmes where past speeches of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar criticising each other are shown.
BJP said its first round of campaign would end with announcement of election, expected in a week’s time. After that the focus would shift on seat sharing and selection of candidates. So that after candidates are declared the saffron party can go again bombard with big rallies.