Prashant Kishor Says Nitish Was ‘Uncomfortable’ With BJP, Rubbishes Talks of His PM Ambitions

In his first public remarks since the change of guard in Bihar, poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his one-time political boss, was not comfortable in the BJP-led alliance and this is the reason why he decided to embrace ‘Mahagathbandhan’ being led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Kishor, who managed poll campaign of Janata Dal (U) in the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, said the impact of the political developments in Bihar will remain limited to the state at present and they were unlikely to have an impact on the national level in the short-run, news agency PTI reported.

“From 2017 to 2022, he was with the BJP. But I never found him comfortable because of many reasons. He may have thought that let us experiment with Mahagatbandhan,” said Kishor.

On reports that Kumar harbours prime ministerial ambitions, Kishor insisted the developments were strictly Bihar-centric.

The poll strategist, who was once considered a close confidant of Nitish Kumar, said Bihar has seen six experiments in government formation since 2012-13 and Nitish Kumar has been a constant as the chief minister. “Since 2012-13, this is the sixth experiment as far as government formation is concerned. In all these six experiments, Nitish Kumar has remained the Chief Minister. And there has been no change in the situation in Bihar. I hope that the new government will do something good,” he added.

Kishor that it will have to be seen whether the new government performs or not as the RJD and JD(U) have contradicting stances on a number of issues, including corruption.

After successfully executing responsibility of Nitish Kumar’s poll campaign, Prashant Kishor had joined the JD(U) in September 2018 and made party’s national vice-president. However in January 2020, JD(U) expelled him for “exceeding the party (line) and going public with their views”.

Kishor has been in the political wilderness after he declined offer to join the Congress in April 2022. Few days later in May, he announced to embark on a 3000 km ‘padyatra’ that will start from Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Bihar’s Champaran on October 2 and dismissed speculations about launching a political party.

Earlier in the day, Nitish Kumar was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for eighth time while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was sworn as his deputy. This came after JD(U) walked out of the BJP-led alliance and joined hands with RJD-Congress-Left.

(With PTI inputs)

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