Nitish Kumar Is 'Paltumaar', New Alliance Won't Last: Prashant Kishor

Poll strategist and former JD(U) member Prashant Kishor reacted to Nitish Kumar's switch to the NDA on Sunday.

File Image of poll strategist Prashant Kishor and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar.

(File Image) 

Reacting sharply to Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar’s switch to the NDA, political strategist Prashant Kishor called the leader a "sardar of paltumaars" or a flip-flop master.

Moreover, Kishor emphatically claimed that the newly formed BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar will not last until the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, which potentially means the JD(U)-BJP government would have a life span of a year or less.

"I have been saying this since starting that Nitish Kumar can swap anytime. This has become a part of his politics. But today's developments have shown that all parties and leaders in Bihar are 'paltumaars'. It is now proved that (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, (Home Minister) Amit Shah and the BJP are also 'paltumaars'," Kishor said in a press conference.

Kishor, who had briefly joined the JD(U) in 2018, now heads the Jan Suraj organisation and might support certain candidates in the 2025 Bihar assembly election.

In his brief stint in the JD(U), the poll strategist had been elevated to the post of the party vice-president. He was, however, expelled shortly after his remarks criticising the JD(U)'s decision to back the Citizenship Amendment Act.

'I Will Retire If...'

Kishor, addressing the media on Sunday, hours after Kumar’s resignation as CM, said that there is no chance that the JD(U) will win more than 20 seats in the next assembly polls.

"If Nitish Kumar wins more than 20 seats in the next Assembly election, I will take retirement from my work. Please write it down," Kishor said. "People of Bihar will pay Nitish Kumar back with interest," Kishor added. 

Kishor also criticised the BJP for joining hands with Kumar. "The BJP leaders verbally abusing Nitish Kumar yesterday will now hail him as a symbol of good governance. RJD, which was calling him a leader for the future, will see corruption in Bihar today," he said. 

"The formation that currently exists, in which Nitish Kumar is the face of the NDA and has the BJP's backing, won't exist until the (Bihar) assembly elections. I can give you this in writing. And the change will happen within six months of the Lok Sabha elections," the political strategist told reporters. 

Referring to his past prediction that the Mahagathbandhan alliance - comprising Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress as members - would not exist until the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, Prashant Kishor said he is making similar predictions in the race to 2025. 

"Pichli baar bhi maine kaha tha (I had said last time as well)," the political strategist reminded the media. 

At 5 pm on Sunday, Kumar took oath as the CM of Bihar, this time as part of the NDA. BJP’s Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha were sworn in as the deputy CMs.