Patna: Jan Suraaj campaign leader and former poll strategist Prashant Kishor took a dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Friday, saying the latter “cannot dare” to contest elections.
He was referring to renewed speculation that Nitish might contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh. On Wednesday, JD(U) minister Shrawan Kumar — known as a close aide of Nitish in his home district Nalanda — had said there was a demand from JD(U) workers in Phulpur that Nitish should contest from there in 2024.
“According to my understanding of elections, Nitish Kumar cannot dare to contest elections,” Kishor said at a press meet in Samastipur.
“When did he contest elections the last time? I am willing to give it in writing that Nitish Kumar will not contest any elections. There are talks about Phulpur. He does not have the courage to contest from Bihar,” he added.
Nitish last contested a Lok Sabha election in 2004, and hasn’t contested an assembly election since 1985. He has been a member of the Bihar legislative council instead, saying he doesn’t want to focus on one constituency alone.
Kishor was briefly a member of Nitish’s JD(U) but was expelled in 2020 after he criticised the latter publicly for his support to the Citizenship Amendment Act.
As one of the prime movers behind the Opposition alliance at the national level, Nitish’s entry in Uttar Pradesh is expected to give a boost to the coalition in eastern UP, where the Kurmis — the community to which Nitish belongs — constitute a significant chunk of votes.
The community constitutes an estimated 6 percent of UP’s population.
Speaking to ThePrint, Bihar minister Bijendra Yadav of the JD (U) said, “How can you stop party workers from making a demand?”
However, even within the JD(U), Shrawan Kumar’s declaration has caused some disbelief.
“It is like throwing a stone in the water and studying the ripples,” said a senior JD(U) leader, insisting that Shrawan Kumar could not have made the statement without Nitish’s consent.
Also Read: ‘Asked Nitish Kumar to merge JD(U) with Congress? He is old and delusional’: Prashant Kishor
‘Nitish should step out of home turf’
Three years ago, Nitish Kumar — in his chamber in the Bihar assembly — had told a few JD(U) leaders that the Rajya Sabha was the only House he had not been a member of.
The next day, there was a clamour among JD(U) leaders who said Nitish needed to go to Delhi and be a part of national politics. The demand died down a month later when Nitish dubbed it a “rumour”.
Last year, when Nitish left the NDA to join hands with the RJD, the JD(U) office resounded with the slogan “Desh Ka PM Kaisa Ho, Nitish Kumar Jaisa Ho (India should have a PM like Nitish Kumar)”.
Even RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who once taunted the claims of JD(U) leaders that Nitish was “PM Material”, supported the view.
After the Bengaluru Opposition meet, Nitish said he was not the PM candidate and his only quest was to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In the last UP assembly election, the JD(U) failed to save its deposits in all but one of the 57 seats it contested.
“The trouble is that the Kurmis outside Bihar do not consider him their leader,” said the senior JD(U) leader quoted above.
“In UP, it is the Apna Dal that represents the caste, while in Jharkhand, the Kurmis are more inclined towards the All Jharkhand Students Union,” the leader added, stressing that Nitish must break his image of being a Bihar leader alone if he wants to play a role in national politics.
Narendra Modi, the leader said, “showed his stature by contesting from both Gujarat and UP”.
“Rahul Gandhi did the same, even though he lost in Amethi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal contested against Modi in Varanasi, knowing he would lose. But, in the process, he made it clear that he was interested in national politics, the leader said.
“Nitish must also show the will to contest outside his home turf — irrespective of the fact that he may lose,” the leader added, saying that even the Kurmis from other states will align with him after he obtains a national tag.
Nitish Kumar, who has served as a Lok Sabha member six times beginning 1989, contested from two seats in 2004 — Nalanda and Barh (a seat that has ceased to exist after delimitation).
He won from Nalanda but lost from Barh.
“Since 2004, he has not contested a Lok Sabha election. Why is he fleeing his home turf Nalanda?” said BJP state chief Samrat Choudhary of the Phulpur talk.
“With what face can he take on the joint might of Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath ?” he added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)