Hajipur (Bihar), Oct 17 (PTI) Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Saturday showered praise on JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, stating that he considered the former chief minister one of the 10 all-time best political leaders of Bihar.
The Bankipur MLA, who has of late become a sharp critic of Kumar, also said that he was opposed to the septuagenarian occupying the seat of power “despite worsening mental health, leaving the government to be run by proxies”.
Kishor, who was in Vaishali district to canvass for upcoming Legislative Council polls, was responding to a pointed query from journalists as to whether, having known the former CM for many years, he thought that Kumar could have “ordered killings” of adversaries.
The query was posed in the backdrop of a remark from Mokama MLA Anant Kumar Singh, who has since retracted his statement and claimed that the “nine murders” he spoke of referred to his own family members who got killed because he was close to the JD(U) supremo, even when the state was ruled by RJD.
Kishor, who is a former national vice president of the JD(U), said, “Anant Singh belongs to the JD(U) which is a part of the government. The RJD is the main party in opposition. The matter is for the two parties to thrash out.”
The two parties can get an investigation done if they think it proper, and the Jan Suraaj Party has nothing to say in the matter, he said.
“As far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, I consider him as one of the most sensible politicians of Bihar. He will be counted among the 10 all-time best political leaders of the state. When I opposed him, it was because he was being made to occupy the seat of power despite unsound mental health while the government was being run through proxies,” Kishor said.
“Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that Nitish Kumar shall be remembered as a leader who tried to improve things in Bihar,” said the 49 years old, who had also handled the JD(U) supremo’s assembly poll campaign in 2015, when he was heading the consultancy firm IPAC.
Kishor was also asked about last week’s boat tragedy in a village in Vaishali, about 70 kms from the district headquarters of Hajipur, which left 13 children dead.
He replied, “It was a big tragedy and in a developed country, a mishap of this magnitude would have caused the government to fall. It is a shame that Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has not bothered to visit the village, just because it happens to fall in the assembly constituency of Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition.”
The bereaved family members deserve both help and sympathy, the Jan Suraaj Party founder said.
“I have decided to visit the village on October 20, when the festival of Dussehra falls. I will try to spend the entire day offering succour to the grief-stricken people”, said Kishor. PTI NAC NN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.