Mandal-wary Amit Shah begins marathon talks with senior leaders

By Sanjay Singh

PATNA: BJP’s national president Amit Shah, who reached Patna on Tuesday morning, held marathon meetings with senior leaders of the party, gathering feedback and trying to plug the gaps before the upcoming assembly elections. Shah apparently is worried over the Mandal card which the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has played to woo the masses. Apart from Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Yadav has been targeting the BJP over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent suggestions for a review of the reservation policy.

"As per the strategy, the party will counter Lalu’s Mandal card by targeting him over family politics. BJP may announce that if it comes to power, the CM will be either from a backward or most backward caste," a person familiar with the matter in BJP said.

Shah held talks with leaders, including Union ministers Ananth Kumar, Dharmendra Pradhan, Kalraj Mishra, BJP’s Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, and the state BJP chief Mangal Pandey on Tuesday.

The party chief is also believed to have discussed ways to persuade rebels who have revolted against the party leadership over selection of candidates to come back to the fold. Another issue that was discussed was proper management of Prime Minister’s election meetings in various parts of the state.

Shah also gathered information about the presence of former minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Narendra Singh’s son against Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate from Chakai seat. "State leaders may talk to HAM chief and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi to persuade Narendra Singh from withdrawing his son from the fray," a source added.