The BJP will be plunging into full-scale political action, especially in Bihar, as the Election Commission unveiled its broad guidelines for the conduct of polls on Friday, with national president J.P. Nadda scheduled to visit Patna on August 28.

Sources in Bihar BJP have confirmed to The Hindu that a series of visits by senior party members will be on the whole of next week with an eye on poll preparation in Bihar, where elections are expected to be held by November.

“National general secretary in charge of the State, Bhupendra Yadav, will be in Patna on August 22, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has been roped in for poll preparations, will be in town on August 24, Sauran Singh, who is co-incharge (organisation) for the Bihar BJP will visit on August 27 and Mr. Nadda will visit on August 28,” said a source in Bihar BJP.

Mandal and district-level meetings will be done with the State executive stated to meet on August 23 and a virtual address by Mr. Nadda.

Seat distribution

Mr. Nadda is expected to meet with Chief Minister and NDA ally Nitish Kumar while in Patna, to take forward the process of seat distribution between the BJP, the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The BJP and the JD(U) had fought equal number of seats in the Lok Sabha polls but speculation is rife on whether a similar arrangement will be endorsed for the Assembly polls.

The party is expecting the polls to go ahead as scheduled around November, and the EC’s guidelines seem to be a step in that direction. The BJP had already kicked off its organisational preparations during the lockdown period via virtual rallies and meetings and door-to-door visits to workers. Booth level preparedness was also prioritised during this period with almost 80% of booths being completed, that is, with the requisite number of workers. The party is banking on the benefits distributed through the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana during the COVID-19 pandemic to generate goodwill for the party. “Almost every household in the State has received something or the other as relief under the programme and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work will be a big campaign plank for us,” said a source.

The EC’s guidelines include the facility of filing nomination papers online, postal ballots for COVID-19 patients and no big rallies under advisory from the Home Ministry.