Bihar polls: BJP names Ravi Shankar Prasad as campaign chief; Fadnavis not mentioned

Ahead of the Bihar polls, BJP on Saturday, released its list of election campaign committee - headed by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad along with Sub-heads - Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shahnawaz Hussain. The election Operations committee will be headed by Union Minister Nityananda Rai while the election management committee will be headed by Bihar's health minister Mangal Pandey. Ex-Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis who was touted to have a major role in the election campaign was not mentioned in any of the lists released by BJP.

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BJP releases election campaign team

Bihar polls: Tejashwi Yadav attacks Nitish Kumar, points at state's high unemployment rate

Fadnavis to lead BJP campaign in Bihar?

On 14 August, sources told Republic TV that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to lead the Bihar election campaign. Fadnavis, who lost the CM seat in Maharashtra after Shiv Sena pulled back from Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra after assembly polls due to differences over Chief Minister's post, was named in the BJP's core committee meeting. While the party is yet to make a formal announcement regarding Fadnavis' role, he has been attending several meetings of Bihar BJP. 

Bihar polls: BJP parliamentary board to take decision on seat-sharing, says Sanjay Jaiswal

Political shuffle

On Friday, sources told Republic World that senior JD(U) leaders are in talks with former party leader Sharad Yadav, launching speculations of his 'ghar wapaasi'. Meanwhile, ex-chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, declared that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) will join the NDA. Similarly, RJD MLA Chandrika Rai - who was a close friend of Lalu Yadav and also Tej Pratap Yadav's father-in-law, senior MLAs Faraz Fatmi, Jaiwardhan Yadav and three more MLAs quit RJD and joined the ruling Nitish Kumar-led JDU.

Bihar polls: LJP chief Chirag Paswan may withdraw support to Nitish Kumar govt say sources

Bihar assembly elections 

Bihar will go to polls amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the EC releasing guidelines for conducting polls. As BJP lost in Delhi, all eyes are set on former party chief Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar -led JDU. While Kumar faces strong anti-incumbency, RJD - Bihar's main opposition has lost the luster it once had due to the absence of it's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav - with his son Tejashwi, most likely to be named as CM hopeful.  Currently, the JDU-BJP combination rules the state with 131 seats, while the RJD-Congress opposition has 111 seats. The Election Commission has also released specific COVID-19 guidelines for polling, counting votes amid the pandemic.