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Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has made bold predictions about Bihar’s political landscape, asserting that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will contest the upcoming assembly elections in alliance with the BJP but may attempt to switch sides later. Addressing a press conference in West Champaran, Kishor claimed that Kumar’s waning popularity would prevent him from securing another term, regardless of the political alliance he joins.
“Anyone can become the chief minister after the elections, except Nitish Kumar. If I am proven wrong, I will abandon my own political campaign,” Kishor declared, emphasizing that public sentiment was not in Kumar’s favor.
Speculation has been rife that Kumar may distance himself from the BJP ahead of the polls, given the party’s reluctance to announce him as its chief ministerial candidate. However, Kishor dismissed this possibility, insisting that Kumar would remain with the NDA for the elections, as he has historically done, except in 2015 when Kishor himself managed his campaign.
Kishor also challenged the BJP leadership, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to publicly commit to Kumar serving a full five-year term if the NDA secures victory. “If they do so, the BJP will struggle to win seats,” he claimed, suggesting that the party was wary of backing Kumar due to his diminishing appeal among voters.
The former JD(U) leader, who was expelled from the party in 2020, predicted that Kumar might attempt another political realignment post-election. However, he asserted that JD(U)’s projected poor performance would make it impossible for Kumar to reclaim the chief minister’s position.
Bettiah, Bihar: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor says, “In 2025, Jan Suraaj will contest all 243 seats, and in 2029 as well, it will contest the same 243 seats… And I am fully determined, whether it takes 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years, there will be no compromise in the… pic.twitter.com/CSXgBv1USM
— IANS (@ians_india) March 5, 2025
Physically Tired, Mentally Retired
Kishor further criticized Kumar’s leadership, alleging that he was both “physically tired and mentally retired.” He recalled past statements by late BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had purportedly claimed that Kumar suffered from a serious mental ailment. “I challenge him to name the ministers in his own cabinet without reading from a paper. He cannot even recall the district he is visiting without prompting from officials,” Kishor remarked.
He also accused Kumar of diminishing Bihar’s political stature by engaging in public displays of submission, referring to the chief minister bowing before Modi during the swearing-in of the new Union government. “If he respects the prime minister so much, he could have done it in private. But he resorts to such gestures to cling to power,” Kishor said, questioning why Kumar had not leveraged JD(U)’s alliance with the BJP to push for economic reforms in Bihar, particularly the revival of the sugar industry.
Kishor also took aim at Bihar’s prohibition policy, calling it a contradiction in the BJP’s governance approach. “Why doesn’t the BJP impose a similar ban in Uttar Pradesh and other states under its rule? While they talk about development and investments elsewhere, in Bihar, their focus is only on free ration and liquor prohibition,” he argued.
With his Jan Suraaj Party preparing to contest the upcoming elections, Kishor positioned himself as a disruptor in Bihar’s long-standing political duopoly, dominated by Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He accused both leaders, along with the Congress and BJP, of holding Bihar hostage for decades and vowed to offer an alternative that could break the state’s political stagnation.
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