Prashant Kishor says ‘Nitish Kumar should have sought fresh mandate after exiting mahagathbandhan’ 

Prashant Kishor.

Election-campaign professional and Janata Dal (United) national vice-president Prashant Kishor said he did not agree with the way party leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar quit the Bihar mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), which also comprised Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, and joined hands with the BJP. He said Kumar should have ideally sought a fresh mandate from the people of Bihar, who elected the mahagathbandhan over the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the state.

During a conversation with a reporter, Kishor said, “You can look at Chandrababu Naidu, Naveen Patnaik and parties like the DMK. Looking back further, we have the example of the VP Singh government, which was supported both by the Left and the BJP. For those who saw in him (Kumar) a potential challenger to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, the move was a let-down. But those who were of the view that he had begun to compromise on governance in his zeal to take on Modi would feel he was right.

Kishor’s remarks have stirred some feathers in his own party as his interview with a news portal went viral.

Reacting to Kishor’s remarks, a JD(U) leader said, “He is offering ‘pravachan’ (discourse) on seeking a mandate. Where was his ‘gyan’ (wisdom) when the party took the decision to realign with the BJP? Moreover, does he not remember that his own formal entry into the JD(U) came after the development, which he is raising questions about now?”

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