Patna: Amid the ongoing war of words with Nitish Kumar, election strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday tweeted four pictures of the Bihar chief minister, paying tribute to and saluting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, just a few hours later, the pictures were removed from his Twitter account. A colleague of Kishor told ThePrint that he would be re-tweeted later.
Images posted without caption are being seen as a reaction of Nitish’s election strategist Statement Done in Delhi on Wednesday. “Maybe he wants to be with the BJP,” he had reportedly said.
Kishor, who hails from Bihar, has been a former ally of Nitish and was his JD(U) election strategist. He was credited with Nitish’s 2015 electoral victory in the state, but left the party in 2020 on a bitter note.
Kishor’s tweet comes at a time when Nitish has concluded a short tour of the capital, during which he met several opposition leaders to form a united front against the Modi-led central government.
In a surprise move last month, the JD(U) severed ties with Bihar alliance partner BJP and rekindled its grand alliance partnership with RJD and Congress.
In Delhi, Nitish held a press meet on Wednesday where he publicly criticized his former election strategist for the first time.
“Anything he wants to do is welcome in Bihar. But their statements have no relevance and they do not know what we have done in Bihar since 2005. Toldadding: “But he (Prashant Kishor) is so good at publicity… like he is an expert and he keeps talking nonsense. When people talk like this, something is on their mind. Like he Wants to be with BJP or wants to help BJP.
On criticism, Kishor later told the media in Bihar’s Bhagalpur that Nitish was a senior political leader who deserved to air his views.
“But it is not right to make personal comments. Everyone knows who was helping the BJP. If Nitish Kumar is giving any kind of certificate then it is a matter of laughter.
Kishor first came into the national limelight when his election campaign group Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) helped the BJP to a landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Read also: Nitish in Delhi, Tejashwi as Bihar CM – RJD’s 2024 plan after JD(U)’s new alliance
off and on equations
Relationship between Nitish and Kishor , Who has also worked for Congress, Trinamool Congress and YSR Congress , There has been an off-on affair since 2015 when the strategist first joined hands with the Bihar CM for the state elections. At that time he was a confidant of not only Nitish but also RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
After the 2015 Bihar elections, Kumar nominated Kishor as consultant for planning and program implementation in the state. However, Kishor left to work as an election strategist for other parties. In 2018, he formally got included in JD(U) and was made the party’s vice-president.
But by 2020, he was out again for his opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens, which the JD(U) had chosen to support.
In 2021, Kishor announced that he was quitting his job as an election strategist.
This year, however, he was again in the news when he spoke about creating an independent space in his home state Bihar and was considering starting a political party.
This February, Nitish and Kishor held a meeting again for a possible “future engagement”, but a close aide of the strategist said, “Prashant Kishor feels that nothing can be done for Nitish Kumar. “, which is now “lack of credibility”.
In May, Kishor announced the launch of the Jan Suraj (Good Governance) campaign and a 3000-km padyatra that would cover every corner of Bihar. He has since been touring the state and meeting people for padyatras, and in the process made several statements against Kumar’s politics and governance.
exchange of barbs
On Nitish switching sides last month, Kishor said: “Nitish Kumar was with Party (ruling party) a month ago and now they are together opposition (Oppose). How reliable it is is for the people to decide. But I don’t think the new government in Bihar will have any major impact on the country. I see it as a state-specific development.”
He too informed of Saying that “Kumar’s Mission 2024 will not be successful. They cannot be installed in national politics.”
About Kumar’s rule, he had said soon after parting ways with the party in 2020: “If there was development in Bihar, Nitish could have met because of the agreements made by Kumar. Did Bihar get special status? He requested PM Modi with folded hands that Patna University should be given the status of a central university. It was rejected.”
During his recent tour of Bihar’s districts, he has also taken a dig at the CM for his alleged failure to implement government programs and the poor condition of the health and education sectors.
JDU has given a scathing reply to Kishor’s words. “Who is Prashant Kishor? How is he able to comment on Nitish Kumar,” party minister Mohammad Zama Khan told ThePrint.
Even Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav remarked that Kishor’s statements made no sense nor deserved a response.
A senior JD(U) leader, on the condition of anonymity, said: “When (Kishore) was in JD(U) as vice-president, he was asked by Nitish Kumar in 2018 to work for an alliance with RJD. was appointed. But after that Tejashwi Yadav stopped his move. Now we have entered into an alliance without him and he is criticizing us.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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