Prashant Kishor stirs Bihar pot with RJD skipping his Delhi meet
21 February, 2020 | newsx bureau
Prashant Kishor, who had a very public falling out with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, holds the key to coming up with a cogent strategy against the Janata Dal United-BJP alliance. The RJD will...
Prashant Kishor: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday met senior Opposition leaders of Bihar, which is due to hold Assembly elections later this year. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is the main opposition party in the state, was not represented in the meeting since its chief Tejashwi Yadav has been critical of Kishor’s work in aid of the Janata Dal United of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishor, who had to split with Nitish following his continued criticism against the Citizenship Amendment Act even as Nitish stood in support of the BJP’s stance, had recently launched Baat Bihar Ki, which seeks to register 1 crore youth.
Among leaders who met Kishor in New Delhi were Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, a former NDA constituent, Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular leader and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and Bihar Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha along with Mukesh Sahni of the Vikasshil Insaan Party.
A report quoted top RLSP, HAM (S) leaders keen on Kishor’s help since he had a better understanding of JD (U) strategy. Kishor himself has been on a roll helping YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal win in assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi respectively. The RJD has been decidedly caustic with Kishor all this while since the JDU won the 2015 elections with RJD and left the alliance soon after for which Kishor has been made the scapegoat.
Prashant Kishor meets Kushwaha, Manjhi, Bihar Congress chief
The report quoted RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari calling Kishor an event manager. Observers have seen Tejashwi as central to the opposition campaign with some pitching him for the CM’s chair. With the Congress moribund in the state, the presence of Congress leaders in the meeting with Kishor points to a non-RJD front which will definitely divide the anti-Nitish votes much to the RJD’s discomfiture. The chemistry between former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav could light up the Opposition maze now lit up with the addition of Prashant Kishor.