The BJP's focus is now on Bihar with elections in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir out of the way and less than a year left for Assembly polls here.

To get in election mode, the state BJP has decided to observe socialist leader Karpoori Thakur's birth anniversary in a big way. The BJP will hold a main function at SK Memorial hall to be attended by BJP national president Amit Shah. That apart, the party will also mark the occasion at all district headquarters.

BJP sources said the party has decided to organise the anniversary in a big way to catch the attention of the extremely backward classes (EBCs), a cluster of over 100 castes who account for around 30 per cent of the state's population.

Remembering former chief minister Thakur has become a political ritual in Bihar. All parties, especially socialist ones (RJD, JDU), usually have their say at such functions. The BJP has organised such functions earlier too, but it was never in the same league as those by the RJD and JDU.

State BJP unit president Mangal Pandey said: 'We follow the ideals of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, who stressed on development of people from lower strata of society. Karpoori Thakur, too, believes in the same ideals.' Attacking the JDU and RJD, Pandey said Thakur opposed the Congress view throughout his life, but both his followers, Lalu and Nitish, are sitting on the Congress' lap for survival.

The BJP will hold a meeting of panchayat to district-level party workers at Gandhi Maidan in April. 'A turnout of around one lakh party workers is expected. Amit Shah will address it,' Pandey said.

The BJP is also organising a two-day meeting of its state working committee in Patna on January 5 and 6. State BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, state BJP unit president Mangal Pandey, Sushil Kumar Modi, ministers from Bihar in the Narendra Modi cabinet, including Radha Mohan Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Dharmendra Pradhan, Giriraj Singh and Ram Kirpal Yadav and other senior leaders will attend the meeting.