Nitish ka Naam, Modi ka Kaam: Inside BJP's Bihar gameplan to challenge Mahagathbandhan, Prashant Kishor

With a sharpened focus on organisation ,the BJP appears determined to turn Bihar into a high-stakes contest fought on the twin planks of development and trust.

With Bihar set to vote in less than a month from now, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has devised a multi-pronged strategy to counter many of the electoral ponderables. Tightening its campaign strategy, the state BJP leadership is looking to center its poll campaign around ‘Vikas aur Vishwas’ (development and trust), preparing to go full throttle with the slogan -- “Nitish ka Naam, Modi ka Kaam (Nitish’s name, Modi’s work)".

The saffron party has been in campaign mode since the last few months. With the official announcement of the poll schedule by the Election Commission, the BJP will be on full campaign mode led by top party leaders from Delhi. The top leadership, including PM Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda and several Union ministers are expected to visit the state throughout October.

The party is also focusing on youth voters and has deployed leaders like Anurag Thakur, Bansuri Swaraj, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, BJP Yuva Morcha president Tejashwi Surya to name a few. The Yuva Morcha will organise youth conclaves in 14 districts, starting from Gopalganj. The party has also planned to organise 'NaMo Yuva Run' marathon events in different cities coinciding with PM Modi's birthday on September 17.

As part of its groundwork, the party has divided all 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar among three key election in-charges to ensure micro-level management across 243 assembly seats. Dharmendra Pradhan, the main election in-charge, will oversee 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, covering 87 assembly seats. CR Patil and Keshav Prasad Maurya have been assigned 13 constituencies each, managing around 78 assembly seats each.

Patil will coordinate campaign activities in Katihar, Purnia, Araria, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Munger, Kishanganj, Samastipur, Madhepura, Jamui, Supaul, Nawada, and Khagaria. Maurya will manage East and West Champaran, Siwan, Saran, Gopalganj, Shivhar, Maharajganj, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur, Vaishali, Buxar, and Valmikinagar.

The saffron party is also chalking out a counter-strategy against political strategist Prashant Kishor (PK), acknowledging his potential to make an impact and being in a position to possibly win five to seven seats. Party insiders, quoted by News 18 say efforts are underway to undermine PK’s influence by portraying him and his team as mere “social media warriors", detached from ground realities. PK, who is a Brahmin himself, is unlikely to make deep inroads in rural Bihar and his voters are likely to be the urban youth.

Meanwhile, hectic discussions are currently underway within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over finalising the seat-sharing arrangement among its allies. According to multiple reports, Union Minister and BJP's state election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan has been holding key discussions with NDA allies Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), HAM and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) to arrive at a consensus on the 243 Assembly seats.