Patna: BJP national president Amit Shah will break bread with chief minister Nitish Kumar not once but twice on Thursday. The two leaders will share breakfast at the state guesthouse and will sit together again for dinner at the chief minister's residence the same day.

Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai shared the information with the media on Tuesday.

The two meetings in a single day between Shah and Nitish come against the backdrop of buzz about tussles over seat-sharing between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents for the 2019 general election.

Leaders from both the BJP and the JDU have made divergent statements in the recent past on seat sharing, which has fuelled speculation that Nitish's party may look for options in case it fails to get the desired number of seats to contest.

Rai said that after reaching Patna airport at 10am, Shah would go to the state guesthouse where he would have breakfast with Nitish and other senior leaders.

Shah will have a meeting with BJP social media cell members from 11.30am to 12.30pm at the Samrat Ashok Convention Centre. From 12.45pm to 1.45pm, Shah will meet with Vistaraks, who look after the BJP's organisational expansion work in assembly segments. He will have lunch at the convention centre and then meet the in-charge of the party's Shaki Kendras (hubs for coordination between grass-root units) from 2.30pm to 3.30pm.

After that, Shah will go back to the state guesthouse for a long meeting with senior party leaders to assess the preparations being made for the coming general election.

This meeting will start at 4 PM and is likely to last for three hours.

Shah will head to the chief minister's residence for dinner after this meeting.

The Bihar BJP has made elaborate arrangements to accord a grand welcome to Shah, who is coming to the state after almost 17 months.

Over 200 senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers from Bihar, party ministers in the state government and senior functionaries of the state unit, will welcome Shah at the airport.

To welcome Shah, party workers will line up both sides of the road from the airport exit gate to gate number two of Patna zoo .

Keeping in mind the likely rush of party leaders at the airport, the BJP has booked parking space there in advance.

Party workers will also line up both sides of the road from Eco Park up to Gandhi Maidan, the stretch Shah will take go the convention centre from the state guesthouse.

"Workers of different wings of our party would accord a grand welcome to the president right up to the meeting venue," said another senior BJP functionary.

The party has submitted an application to the district administration for booking one-fourth of Gandhi Maidan, to be used as parking space for the participants who will come to attend the meetings.

Shah will stay the night in Patna and leave for Delhi on Friday morning.