PATNA: BJP president Amit Shah will hold discussions with Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over breakfast and dinner during his visit to Patna on Thursday.
BJP chief's meeting with the Bihar CM comes amid reports of growing differences between the two parties.
This would be Shah's first visit to Bihar after Kumar's JD(U) rejoined the NDA last year and assumes significance in the backdrop of repeated assertions by JDU spokesmen that it was the "elder brother" in the coalition and should get the lion's share of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Here is Amit Shah's full schedule:-
-According to a state BJP release, Shah will arrive in Patna at 10 am.
-From the airport, he will proceed to the state guest house where he will "have breakfast with Nitish Kumar and other senior leaders".
-"After hectic day-long activities, Shah will have dinner at the chief minister's official residence," the release said.
-Around 11 am, Amit Shah will proceed towards the Gyan Bhavan to meet the RSS and BJP activists.
-Around 11.45 am, the BJP chief is scheduled to have an interaction with the party's social media and the IT cell. The interaction will last till 12.45 pm.
-Around 2.30 pm, Shah will interact with BJP's district and state level office bearers and discuss ways to further strengthen the party inthe state.
-Around 3.45 pm, Amit Shah will leave for the State Guest House. On his way to the State Guest House, Shah is also likely to visit the party headofice in Patna.
-In the evening around 7 pm, Shah will leave for the Bihar Chief Minister's residence where he will meet Nitish Kumar and have dinner with the JDU leader.
-Amit Shah will depart for Telangana around 9 am on Friday aboard a chartered plane.
The BJP president's Bihar visit is considered important from point of view of finding a way out to the prickly issue of seat-sharing among NDA partners for next year's Lok Sabha election.
The NDA which had won 31 seats in Bihar is witnessing claims and counter-claims made by leaders of NDA constituents after JD (U) returned to its fold.
Old partners - BJP, LJP and RLSP - had won 22, 6 and 3 seats respectively while JD(U) which had fought separately with the Left parties had managed only two seats in the last parliamentary poll.
(With PTI inputs)
