Want Bihar CM Nitish Kumar of 2014, not BJP’s sidekick: Prashant Kishor

PATNA: Expelled JD(U) leader Prashant Kishor questioned CM Nitish Kumar’s development model and his alliance with those who “support the ideology" of Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse at a press conference here on Tuesday.
While announcing his plans to launch a state-wide campaign ‘Baat Bihar Ki’, Kishor chose not to directly attack Nitish, describing him as a “fatherly figure” and even invited him to lead a new “youth-based political forum” in Bihar.The poll strategist revealed that his campaign will be launched on February 20.
“I am neither with any political party nor working for any alliance for the upcoming election in Bihar. I am pursuing my own agenda of getting 1 crore youth of Bihar on a common platform…If Nitish Kumar wants to lead it, he is welcome… if Sushil Kumar Modi wants to lead then also I have no objection,” Kishor told media persons at the office of his political advocacy group I- PAC.
Exhorting Nitish to join his initiative, Kishor added, “Please come forward…I am not ready to believe that people of Bihar won’t support a person like you (Nitish) if you put forth a blueprint for the development of the state in the next 10 years.”
Kishor remarked that he had more respect for the Bihar CM in 2014, the present day Nitish has been reduced to a mere ‘pichchlagu’ (sidekick) of BJP. “I have more respect for Nitish Kumar of 2014, who lost the elections, but he was still the pride of Bihar. But today he has 16MPs and some leader from Gujarat (an allusion to Amit Shah) tells him you will remain the leader. A leader of 10 crore people does not need approval from any other party,” Kishor said.
On his differences with Nitish, Kishor said, “The foremost issue of contention is we cannot take Gandhi and Godse together…As far as I have known Nitish Ji he has always asserted that we cannot leave thoughts and ideologies of Gandhi, JP and Lohia. But doubts come in my mind when you (Nitish) stand with people supporting the ideology of Godse.”
On being asked why he did not raise such issues when he was with JD (U), Kishor claimed that he raised such issues a number of times with Nitish. “I and Nitish Ji had discussions and unfortunately I could not convince him, so I am out today,” he said.
Referring to Nitish’s claim that Kishor was inducted in JD (U) on the advice of Shah, Kishor said: “I always considered Nitish Ji as a father-figure and he also looked after me as a son, but if he has to lie at the age of 70, then I have nothing to say.”
On his Bihar Ki Baat campaign, Kishor said, “I want to rope in youths, who want to see Bihar among top 10 states in the country...It is in that direction ‘Baat Bihar Ki’ has been launched, enrolment of volunteers for the project is already underway and more than two lakh young people have signed up. We intend to enroll up to 10 lakh youths in the next 100 days. This is an aspirational and not an attempt to build a new party.”