Amit Shah to meet allies during visit on July 12

PATNA: BJP national president Amit Shah during his visit to Bihar on July 12 will meet JD (U) chief and state CM Nitish Kumar amid reports of strained ties between the two parties after certain JD (U) leaders’ demand for 25 of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats to contest in the 2019 general election on the pattern of 2009 election.

Shah will also meet leaders of other NDA allies, LJP and RLSP, to send out a strong message that ‘all is well in the Bihar NDA’, a BJP senior told TOI on Friday, preferring anonymity.

According to him, Shah meets leaders of allies whenever he visits a state. “He met Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra and SAD’s Prakash Singh Badal in Punjab. Similarly, he will meet Nitish in Bihar,” the BJP senior said.

Though an itinerary is yet to be released by BJP, party sources said Shah would reach Patna in the morning and hold a meeting with party MPs, MLAs and MLCs to take stock of the organisation’s preparations for the 2019 election. BJP’s national general secretary and in charge of Bihar affairs Bhupender Yadav and party’s Union ministers from Bihar will also attend the meeting.

Shah will meet Nitish and leaders of other NDA partners in the afternoon.

The BJP chief’s proposed meeting with Nitish assumes significance in the wake of speculations in a section of the media, especially after Nitish called RJD chief Lalu Prasad to inquire about his health, over Nitish’s response if the JD (U)’s demand for 25 seats are not accepted by BJP.