New Delhi: Political strategist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is still in contact with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and he might get into an alliance with the saffron party if the need arises, news agency PTI reported. However, the suggestion has been dismissed by Janata Dal (United) as “misleading”.
“People who are thinking that Nitish Kumar is actively building a national alliance against the BJP will be surprised to know that he has kept a line open with the BJP. He is in touch with the BJP through his party MP and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh ji,” PTI quoted Kishor as saying.
Suggesting that Harivansh has not been asked to resign his Rajya Sabha post for this reason, Kishor said, “People must keep this in mind that whenever such circumstances arise, he can go back to the BJP and work with it.”
However, the JD(U) slammed Kishor and its spokesperson KC Tyagi said that the Bihar chief minister has publicly announced that he will never again join hands with the BJP.
“We strongly refute his claims. Kumar is in active politics for over 50 years and Kishor for six months. Kishor has made such a misleading comment to spread confusion,” Tyagi said.
Notably, Prashant Kishor is on a padyatra in Bihar that started on October 2 from the Gandhi ashram in Betiharwa in West Champaran and is set to complete a 3,500-km journey in the next 12-15 months seeking people’s support to ‘change’ the system.
He was in the JD(U) for less than 18 months, before being expelled in 2020 for his criticism of Kumar for his support to the BJP over Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
It is to be noted that Kumar had recently severed his party’s ties with the BJP and joined hands with the RJD-Congress-Left alliance in Bihar, vowing to work to build an alliance against the saffron party at the national level, asserting that a united opposition will topple the BJP at the Centre.