New Delhi: Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor said on Friday that chief minister Nitish Kumar brought shame to Bihar when he touched Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s feet earlier this month.
Addressing a public meeting in Bihar’s Bhagalpur, the Jan Suraaj party chief claimed Nitish Kumar, a key BJP ally, has put up his conscience for sale.
“People ask me why I am now criticising Nitish Kumar, having worked with him in the past. He was a different man back then. His conscience had not been put up for sale,” said Kishor, who had managed the JD (U) president’s election campaign in 2015 and joined the party two years later. The two leaders, however, fell out.
Prashant Kishor, who had erroneously predicted a landslide victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, claimed Nitish Kumar touched Modi’s feet to stay in power.
“The leader of a state is the pride of its people. But Nitish Kumar brought shame to Bihar when he touched the feet of Modi,” he alleged, per PTI.
With JDU winning 12 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, Nitish Kumar has emerged as the kingmaker. The BJP, which could win only 240 Lok Sabha seats, is reliant on Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu and Eknath Shinde’s support for a majority in the lower house of the Parliament.
“There is so much talk about Nitish Kumar playing a key role in Modi’s return to power. But how is the Bihar CM leveraging his position? He is not using his clout to ensure benefits for the state. He is touching feet to ensure that he remains in power with BJP support, even after the 2025 assembly polls,” Kishor said.
Prashant Kishor had predicted that the BJP would easily cross the majority mark. However, the party ended up 32 seats short of the majority mark. Belying exit polls, the INDIA bloc won 234 Lok Sabha seats.
At NDA’s meeting, Nitish Kumar touched Modi’s feet in public for the second time. He had also touched his feet during a rally in Bihar.
Earlier this year, Nitish Kumar once again switched his loyalties from the INDIA bloc – which he helped form – to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. His party contested the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the BJP.
Nitish Kumar has repeated on several occasions that he will never leave the NDA again.
