The JD (U) on Saturday called poll strategist turned politician a 'BJP agent' and accused him of marketing himself. Rubbishing Kishor's claim of having turned down an "offer" from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the party's de facto leader, Party president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan asserted that the poll campaign manager was "not a political worker but a businessman" who relied on "marketing" tactics.
"We know Prashant Kishor has been working for the BJP for some time. One agent of the BJP was recently caught during magistrate checking," remarked the JD(U) chief, in an apparent reference to former national president RCP Singh.
"Prashant Kishor is not a political person but a businessman. Kishor was not offered anything by the party. He himself expresses interest in meeting with Nitish Kumar. Before meeting the CM, he met me in Delhi. I had cleared his return to the party could be considered if he agreed to abide by party discipline. He then expressed his desire to meet Nitish.
"It was he who intimated the media about his meeting Nitish Kumar. We all know that they are working for BJP..." he added.
The JD(U) president's remarks come barely a few days after a meeting between Kumar and Kishor after which the latter claimed to have engaged in some plain-speak with the Bihar CM, having told him that prohibition, one of his most feted moves, was a complete failure and needed to be reviewed.
Kishor, who has launched a campaign 'Jan Suraaj' as part of which he will be embarking on a 3,500 km-long state-wide 'padayatra' next month, had also claimed to have turned down a "specified" offer from Kumar who, he believes, has run out of steam.
Kumar, whose party was drubbed, hired Kishor a year later when assembly polls were held in Bihar. Kumar's alliance with arch rival Lalu Prasad and Congress trounced the BJP despite an intensive campaign by the PM.
Kishor was subsequently appointed as an advisor to the Bihar CM, a post of cabinet minister rank, though he continued to work in professional capacity for other political figures.
In 2018, Kumar, who was then the JD(U) national president, inducted Kishor into the party and elevated him to the post of national vice president within weeks. However, Kishor's outspokenness against CAA-NPR-NRC led to his expulsion from the party in 2020, which was then an NDA ally.
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