Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address at least 30-35 rallies in Bihar, a sign that the BJP, in a bid to recreate its magic of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, is pulling out all the stops for the state.

And it is banking on a Modi wave to defeat the Grand Alliance. Previously, it was presumed that he would limit his public meetings to a dozen throughout the five phases. However, as things stand now, he will address seven public meetings in the first phase itself.

He is scheduled to address four public meetings on Thursday - at Munger, Begusarai, Samastipur and Nawada. On Friday, he will address rallies in Aurangabad and Sasaram.

The rally blitzkrieg shows the BJP considers Bihar a very high stakes election, especially after the rout in the Delhi Assembly elections last year at the hands of Arvind Kejriwal's AAP. There too, the BJP didn't project any chief ministerial candidate but went with former IPS officer Kiran Bedi at the last hour. Bedi not only failed to check Kejriwal's wave but also lost from her seat (Krishna Nagar) in east Delhi.

Political pundits believe the Modi blitz is a tried-and-tested strategy of the NDA. The BJP and its three regional partners in Bihar have decided not to project a candidate for chief minister but instead seek votes in the name of Modi and his development agenda.

Modi, who kickstarted his campaign from Banka on October 2, focused on development and refrained from controversial issues such as reservation or the caste census. Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is leading the anti-BJP coalition, had taunted the BJP for seeking votes in the name of the Prime Minister.

The importance of the polls can be gauged from the fact that several Union ministers, BJP national president Amit Shah and other organisation members are camping in Bihar. Shah has been in Bihar since October 2 and has been addressing workers' meets in Begusarai, Aurangabad, Muzaffarpur, Supaul, Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnea and Patna.

When The Telegraph asked Bihar BJP in-charge Bhupender Yadav the reason for added focus on the state Assembly elections, he said: "It is not that Modi ji is giving more focus on the Bihar Assembly elections; he has addressed rallies in Maharashtra and other states."

A BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said: "The tickets were distributed based on recommendations of central leaders and feedback of an internal survey conducted by BJP in all 243 constituencies."

Meanwhile, preparations were being carried out on war footing for the Munger rally on Thursday.

Around 500 labourers and a dozen engineers were seen engaged in constructing the dais and the metalled path near the Safiabad airstrip, the site of Modi's rally.

The Munger district police have deputed 540 officers and 8,000 constables for the rally. Besides, there will be a three-layered security at the venue. Fourteen companies of paramilitary forces too have been called in for the Prime Minister's security.

Additional reporting by Sri Krishna Prasad in Munger