A month after being expelled from JD(U), political strategist Prashant Kishor, has opened up about the reason for his exit and said that the party chief and CM of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, is being badly treated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“Nitish ji always treated me like his son, and he was like father to me. So whatever decisions he has taken, I am fine with those. He inducted me in the party, and expelled me – but I don’t hold any grudges against him,” Prashant Kishor said in Patna on Tuesday.
He acknowledged that there were ideological differences between him and the Bihar Chief Minister.
“All this started around Lok Sabha polls, and it was about ideological positioning. Nitish ji always said he cannot leave Gandhi, JP and Lohia. When you are propagating Gandhi’s ideology, how can you stand with those who praise Godse?” said Kishor. He hinted that he felt that BJP doesn’t respect Nitish Kumar.
“I have seen Nitish Kumar in 2014 – he commanded respect then. But now, a Gujarat leader announces that he will be the face our NDA in Bihar. I don’t think this is right. He is not a manager that other leaders have to tell him what he has to do,” said Kishor. He referred to Home Minister Amit Shah who had announced in October last year that Bihar Assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.
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Kishor was expelled from JD(U) by Kumar last month for his stand against the amended citizenship law (CAA). Kishor and former Rajya Sabha member Pavan K Varma, once the closest aides of Kumar, attacked the CAA that enables the government to fast-track citizenship for non-Muslims from three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
He however stated that this doesn’t douse his intentions of being active in Bihar politics.
Kishor played a key role in brokering an alliance between Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JD(U) for the assembly polls and defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar in 2015, when the Modi wave was at its peak.
Recently, Indian Political Action Committee, the election strategy firm set up by Prashant Kishor, was roped in by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party for the campaign in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections. The AAP received a sweeping majority by winning 62 of the 70 assembly seats.