There are many festivals, no rallies have been curtailed, Amit Shah said.
The BJP had to face multiple questions today at party chief Amit Shah's press conference in Patna on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence from campaigning in Bihar for more than 10 days. The period - October 16 to 25 - will lead up to the crucial third phase of the assembly elections.
The anti-BJP coalition -- Janata Dal United and the Rashtriya Janata Dal -- has been claiming that the BJP's poor performance in the first two phases of elections is the reason for PM Modi's absence from the frontlines.
"The BJP has been deflated. They are bringing Hema Malini now, as if she will get victory for them," said RJD Chief Lalu Prasad today. The lawmaker from Mathura has been campaigning in Bihar for some time.
Mr Prasad's son and the party's candidate from Raghopur, Tejaswi Yadav, said, "The BJP is trying to decide whom they should pin the loss on."
Some BJP insiders too, have been raising questions, including dissenter Shatrughan Sinha, who tweeted two days ago:
At the press meet, Mr Shah sounded irked: "Sometimes I don't understand what your agenda is. Not one question here is on Bihar's development. Why are you not asking me questions on bijli-paani?"
"The leader of the election campaign comes only at the end," he added, dismissing reports of a setback. "There is a big gap in the elections, there are so many festivals, no rallies have been curtailed."
Party sources said while earlier, PM Modi was to address 20 rallies, the figure has been increased to 22; 13 rallies will be held after October 25.
But in the same festive season, Mr Prasad and his ally and chief minister Nitish Kumar will address as many as 50 meetings, taking a break only on Dusshera.
On the ground, BJP candidates like youth leader Nitin Naveen said big rallies make a difference, but they will manage to get votes anyway. "The big leaders charge the workers and leaders alike... but I will use Modiji's name and ask for votes and it won't make a difference," said the candidate from Pataliputra.