Patna, April 17 (IANS) With the Bihar Assembly elections inching closer, all eyes are on Patna where the first formal meeting of the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) parties will be held on Thursday.

The spotlight on Thursday will be on finalising the alliance strategy, setting a common agenda, and possibly endorsing Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial face of the alliance.

The meeting will be held at the RJD state office in Patna at 1:00 pm and the agenda of the meeting is to make an election strategy, discuss seat sharing and the Common Minimum Programme.

The meeting is also likely to make a final decision on the chief ministerial candidate of the Grand Alliance, the coordination mechanism among allies and the joint action plan to counter the NDA.

As per RJD sources, Tejashwi Yadav, Rajya Sabha MPs Manoj Jha and Sanjay Yadav, Bihar Congress’ incharge Krishna Allavaru, state President Rajesh Ram, Dipankar Bhattacharya of the CPI-ML, Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and leaders of the CPI and CPI(M) will be present.

The Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), led by Pashupati Kumar Paras, has not been invited to the meeting.

The party exited the NDA recently but hasn't formally joined the Grand Alliance.

While the RJD has already declared Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, the Congress has remained non-committal on it.

However, sources say a consensus may emerge today in favour of Tejashwi leading the charge in the state.

Sources said that matters like the Waqf (Amendment) Act that are seen as a potential rallying point to mobilise minority votes, 65 per cent reservation demand, social justice issues to counter the NDA’s agenda, economic and unemployment issues, NDA’s track record on education, health, and governance will be the key points on which they would chalk out the plan to counter the NDA.

The leaders of the Mahagathbandhan may plan joint rallies and campaigns, announce shared manifesto and campaign themes.

They will also begin seat-sharing talks soon after a consensus on leadership and schedule for future coordination meetings.

This meeting is being seen as a crucial step towards solidifying Opposition unity in Bihar.

If the Grand Alliance succeeds in presenting a united front under Tejashwi’s leadership, it could be a formidable challenge to the NDA in the upcoming Assembly polls.