PATNA: The BJP seems to have finally gone into poll mode in Bihar with a galaxy of top leaders from the party including Union Home Minister Amit Shah scheduled to visit the state from January 7 to 16 to address a series of public meetings on the CAA. The meetings have been finalised to raise awareness about the contentious legislation.
Party sources said that MP Sanjay Seth will be the first prominent leader to address a public meeting at Nawada on January 7 while Jayant Sinha will address another public meeting at Ara on January 9.
Dr Nikhil Anand, spokesperson of the BJP in Bihar, said, "The national vice president Prabhat Jha will also address two public meetings on January 9 in Darbhanga and Madhubani while former CM of Jharkhand Raghubar Das will address a public meeting in Nalanda on January 10 and CP Singh in Banka on January 10."
He said that the BJP has launched public campaigns in order to expose the opposition's nefarious designs on the CAA through which the people are being misled and a fear psychosis created among the people of a particular community.
"Besides them, Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai on January 11 in Motihari and the next day in Bettiah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath on January 14 in Gaya would be addressing public meetings on the CAA," he said. Yogi will be accompanied by Bihar's deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to address a mammoth public meeting in Vaishali district on CAA on January 16, near the historic ruins of the erstwhile Lichhavi dynasty, which was one of the first in the world to propound the concept of democracy.
Local observers say the series of public meetings is a poll strategy to counter those who oppose the CAA, NRC and NPR and allay apprehensions among the minorities.
"The BJP may not be admitting the fact on record but the party has geared up its political strategies into poll mode and launched a campaign as a prelude to the polls to be held later this year," said Dr RK Verma, a political analyst associated with the Bihar chapter of the institute of public administration.
On Monday, deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, addressing a public meeting in Gaya, said that Muslims in the state need not worry about the rumours created by the Congress and its allies in the state over the CAA, NPA or NRC.
Meanwhile, the dates of the first phase of the census in Bihar have been announced.
According to official sources in the PIB, the first phase of the census will be from May 15 to June 28 in 2020 and the second phase from February 9 to 20 in 2021.