Modi Bihar foray to begin today

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The BJP’s emerging icon and its national election campaign committee chief Narendra Modi’s long-thwarted foray into Bihar is set to begin on Saturday with his scheduled teleconference with 1,500 BJP workers from the state who would get tips on poll strategy directly from him.
The Gujarat chief minister, who was prevented allegedly by JD(U) stalwart and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar from visiting the eastern state for campaigning in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and the 2010 Assembly polls, will speak to BJP workers coming from districts to panchayat levels. BJP’s Bihar state president Mangal Pandey said the one-hour, high-tech exercise would begin at 6 pm and Mr Modi would speak with Bihar’s party workers divided in three groups, each having 500 workers.
“Only organisational workers of the party will interact with the national campaign committee chief. No senior state leader will be involved in the programme in which five workers from each group would speak with Mr Modi and the others in the group would listen to the conversation,” Mr Pandey told reporters.
The BJP in Bihar, currently engaged in organising crowded public meetings in all the Assembly constituencies of the ruling JD(U), bubbled with enthusiasm to finally have Mr Modi among its cadres, an event made possible only after the JD(U) walked out of the NDA in June. The three groups kept ready to listen to Mr Modi’s pep talk will comprise state working committee members, district party office bearers, district and block level presidents, party members at the panchayat level and those belonging to social organisations.
“Party workers are very excited to listen to our great national leader through this Gujarat-like high-tech system, which is a first in Bihar,” said Ashok Bhat, a state BJP functionary.
Mr Modi’s interaction with Bihar’s BJP workers is seen as part of the party’s early preparations for the LS polls in the crucial state, which has 40 seats and 12 of them are currently held by the BJP.