JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan refuted poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s claim of having turned down an “offer” from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to join the party and alleged that he was “working for” the BJP to find a firm foothold in the state.
Lalan said that no offer was made to Kishor by the JD(U), adding that the poll campaign manager was “not a political worker but a businessman” who relied on “marketing” tactics.
The JD(U) president’s remarks come a few days after Kishor and Kumar held a meeting.
Kishor, who has launched ‘Jan Suraaj’ campaign as part of which he will start a 3,500 km-long state-wide ‘padayatra’ next month, had also claimed to have rejected a “specified” offer from Kumar.
“We know Prashant Kishor has been working for the BJP for some time… The BJP is relying on conspiracies in Bihar. First it used RCP Singh and now it is using Prashant Kishor. But we are vigilant. We will not allow these designs to succeed,” the JD(U) chief said.
The JD(U) president claimed that it was Kishor who wanted to meet Kumar after the new political situation emerged in Bihar.
“He spoke to the CM who asked him to first have a word with the party president. So he came to meet me in New Delhi. I told him that his return to the party could be considered if he agreed to abide by party discipline. Thereafter he secured an appointment with the CM who agreed to meet him and gave an appointment. But, as part of his marketing strategy, he told the media that he has been called to the CM’s residence but he will not go,” Lalan claimed.
“Later, after Pavan Varma met Nitish Kumar, the former also had a word with Kishor whom he knows. Kishor again expressed the wish to meet the CM and they met. But why will anybody give him any offer? Who is he?” he added, PTI reported.
In 2018, Kumar, who was then the JD(U) national president, inducted Kishor into the party and made him national vice president within weeks. However, Kishor’s public criticism against CAA-NPR-NRC led to his expulsion from the party in 2020, which was then an NDA ally.
