Poll strategist and convener of Jan Suraj Prashant Kishor on Tuesday targeted the small political parties of Bihar which are likely to play an important role for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He made a veiled attack alleging they always have a personal interest in mind rather than making any difference in the polls.
The statement came on the day when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Opposition convened their respective meetings to take on each other in the next general election. The NDA held meetings with 38 political parties in Delhi, whereas 26 political parties took part in Opposition meetings at Bengaluru to garner support.
Mr. Kishor claimed that parties of Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha always kept their personal interest of gaining a seat or two in mind. Kishor stressed that whoever will give seats to smaller parties they will go with them.
“Everyone has the right to unite other political parties keeping elections in mind and this is the reality of Bihar politics. As far as Upendra Kushwaha and Chirag Paswan’s are concerned, both had contested election with BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha and 2015 Assembly election. Even Manjhi ji was with the BJP, there is nothing new in it. With all due respect to them, the smaller parties always have their own personal interest. They are only bothered how they will get one or two seats in the alliance.” Mr. Kishor said.
These three names are the part of NDA now and the top leadership of BJP has already started talk with them on seat sharing which include Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD) of Upendra Kushwaha, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) of Chirag Paswan and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) of Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Looking at the past record, it has been seen that whenever BJP has formed an alliance with smaller parties, they have made a big impact in the state. In 2014 BJP had an alliance with the then Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) led by Upendra Kushwaha, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by late Ram Vilas Paswan and the result was unprecedented. Kushwaha had won all three seats whereas LJP had won six Lok Sabha seats out of seven it contested.
“Whoever will give one seat to Manjhi ji, he will go with either BJP or Grand Alliance, similarly whoever will give two seats to Kushwaha ji, and he will go with them. There is a faction in LJP so it is not clear who will go where,“ Mr. Kishor asserted.
While briefing the press at Dalsinghsarai in Samastipur district, Mr. Kishor said that all this keeps on happening in the electoral politics and it is not a matter of serious concern for him. He opined that Opposition meetings will not make any impact on the masses unless a narrative is set that something serious is happening on the ground.
“I am not concerned about what the Opposition and the BJP are doing because it will not make any impact on the people. There should be some issue, narrative, workers on ground and ability to transfer the support into votes. Many people think that in 1977, Indira Gandhi was defeated because many political parties came together. Those are fools who think on this line. Indira Gandhi was defeated because emergency was the issue and JP’s movement played a major role. Had these two things not happened, Indira Gandhi could have not been defeated. Something similar happened at the time of V.P. Singh when Rajiv Gandhi was defeated. That time the Bofors scandal was the issue. So, a narrative has to be set then only electoral benefit could be achieved,” Mr. Kishor said.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha slammed the Opposition meet in Bengaluru alleging that all the corrupt parties are having a get together. On the other hand, Bihar BJP State president Samrat Choudhary mocked the posters targeting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bengaluru saying that in the state where Congress is in power, Mr. Kumar has been humiliated.
