One source confirmed Indi was “the No. 1 target in Victoria”.

A series of National Party advertisements will run in The Border Mail this week as federal MPs from the party make their way to the North East for Thursday’s party room meeting.

The advertisements — understood to have cost about $2800 — are believed to have come from Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie’s office and focus on key policy points like education, agriculture and infrastructure.

Thursday’s meeting will be followed by a free, two-hour meet-and-greet with MPs at The Cube, then the $1100-a-seat dinner at Huon Hill Hotel where participants will rub shoulders with Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce.

The fact Wodonga, Indi’s largest population centre, has been chosen as the site for the meeting is seen as no coincidence; both the Nationals and Liberals will be offering candidates to win the seat in 2016 from independent Cathy McGowan, after she snatched the previously safe seat from Liberal Sophie Mirabella.

The National Party source said there was no doubting that “Indi is definitely a target”.

“It’s probably the No. 1 target in Victoria,” they said.

“It’s an easier one for us to get; there’s others we’re interested in, like Murray, but with a sitting Liberal MP (Sharman Stone) that’s not necessarily going to be an option.”

Late last week, the Nationals’ state director Jenny Hammett said the party would hold its pre-selection this year, although there were no further details.

Local Nationals, including Indi federal electorate chairman Marty Corboy and Rutherglen Nationals’ president Don Chambers, have made no secret of their desire to make a run at the seat.

But the source downplayed the significance of the meeting in Wodonga and of this week’s newspaper advertising, saying no larger campaign was under way.

“It’s just saying the Nationals are in town and listening to you,” the source said.

“It’s not a vote-gathering thing; they’re out there genuinely to listen.

“They do this all the time, it’s what they do outside sitting periods.”