File Photo: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. (AFP Photo)
Ahead of the Bihar election, Nitish Kumar doesn't want his policies to be assessed in the abstract. So next month, the Chief Minister, who is in pursuit of a third Consecutive term, will visit 10 households across the state. To get some feedback in person.
It's not clear yet if the ten families he will sample - and vice versa - will know in advance about his visit.
Starting July 2, Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United will deploy workers to visit one crore households with a four-point questionnaire on whether his promises of development for one of India's most-backward states are seen as at least partially fulfilled.
Mr Kumar will also tender the same form to the 10 families that he visits, he said at a meeting of his party's workers in Patna today. He was accompanied by 37-year-old Prashant Kishor, who is credited with the high-tech innovations of the campaign that saw Narendra Modi record a huge victory last year. Mr Kishor has pledged his strategic savoir-faire to Mr Kumar, who shares a long and public rivalry with Prime Minister Modi.
Mr Kumar has tied up with another old rival, Lalu Yadav, for the election -the alliance of their parties aims at blocking the BJP, powered by the PM's popularity, from coming to power.
A few days ago, Mr Kumar announced that a 'Vision Document 2025' for Bihar would be prepared on the basis of suggestions from the public. Among the many initiatives suggested at that meeting with cadres was a breakfast chat with prominent media persons and Bihar Dialogues -neighbourhood meetings - in different states.