Bihar: Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, who expelled from the Janata Dal United (JDU) today launched a brand new outreach and threw a series of uncomfortable questions at his former mentor and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Bihar politics.
He announced a “Baat Bihar Ki” programme to reach out to thousands of the state’s younger voters. Prashant, however, ruled out forming any political party or joining one ahead of the Bihar election later this year.
Speaking to media, Prashant said, “I have no intention of joining another political party or coalition… my sole focus is that in the next 100 days I will launch this program ‘Baat Bihar Ki’.
“Bihar has made progress in the last 15 years, but we must also see that compared to other states, Bihar falls short even today… Why is that? It stands where it was in 2005” said the former JDU vice president.
“Bihar was poorest state in 2005 and continues to be so. There is no one to question Nitish Kumar’s governance model. I urge Nitish Kumar or any of his ministers to debate with me in open forum on data points pertaining to Bihar’s development,” Kishor said.
He also spoke about his ideological differences with Kumar, saying: “There have been many discussions between me and Nitish ji about the party’s ideology. Nitish ji always told us that the party can never leave the ideals of Gandhi ji…. But now the party is with those who are soft on Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse…. For me Gandhi ji and Godse cannot go hand-in-hand.”