For the BJP, which has been on an upswing after winning three crucial state elections following the blip in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the year-end battle in Bihar will be a crucible. The party will look to take its dominance into the Assembly polls next year that will prove to be a much sterner test. Given the stakes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah who visited Bihar over the weekend to address public events and hold discussions with the state BJP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies, tasked each of the party’s 84 MLAs to focus on booth management, assisted by a party functionary, for the next six months. In talks with the state BJP leadership, Shah said the party should follow the “Maharashtra model” of focusing on booths that do not have traditional BJP voters. The home minister told his party colleagues that booth management, along with the implementation of labharthi (welfare) schemes, had been the key to the BJP’s electoral success. In back-to-back two meetings with BJP leaders and office-bearers on March 29, Shah talked about “a strong NDA”, mentioning Janata Dal (United) chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar once. Shah told his colleagues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the state almost every month till the Assembly polls later in the year. A BJP leader who was present at the meetings said, “The most important takeaway from the two meetings was that it is very important to win Bihar again as it will set the tempo for the big Assembly polls due in 2026 (West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala).” Another senior BJP leader said, “Micro-level booth management means studying booth-wise results and winning back voters by getting local government officials to implement labharthi schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Ujjwala Yojana, and PM Awas Yojana.” In the internal meetings, Shah said there were 21% of booths in Maharashtra where the party got additional votes, allowing it to make a turnaround in the Assembly elections months after seeing its Lok Sabha tally from the state drop. This is what the BJP should aim for in Bihar too, the minister told the party leadership. The home minister also spoke of the formidable social combination of the NDA parties, saying that would give the party an edge. During his visit, Shah also shared the dais with Nitish Kumar at an event in Patna where Central and state government schemes worth Rs 800 crore were launched or unveiled. Shah later also addressed a public meeting in Gopalganj, where he targeted the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over “jungle raj” during its time in power from 1990 to 2005. In February, Modi also focused on law and order during the RJD rule, referring to the party only as “jungle raj waale”. With Shah also continuing his attack on it, the thrust of the BJP’s campaign narrative is clear. The home minister, during his visit to Bihar last month, spoke of the revamp and renovation of a Sita temple in Sitamarhi in the Mithila region. At present, with 84 legislators, the BJP is the largest party in the state. Among its allies, the JD(U) has 45 MLAs and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) has four legislators in the House of 243. According to NDA insiders, while the BJP and the JD(U) are looking to contest 100 seats each, leaving 43 for smaller allies such as the HAM(S), Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha.
