Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishore launched a scathing attack on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday, saying that he is mentally and physically exhausted. He said the JDU leader is not capable of spearheading the state.
“Nitish Kumar has become tired mentally and physically and is no longer capable of leading Bihar. Now eight to ten months are left, let him enjoy till then.” he said.
The statement comes ahead of much-awaited Bihar assembly polls which are slated for later this year. Prashan Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party is also expected to make its electoral debut during those polls.
Prashant Kishore also challenged Nitish Kumar of naming his ministers and their respective departments without reading it out of a paper and said that he will leave his ‘Jan Suraaj’ movement and will go back to supporting the chief minister.
“If Nitish Kumar can come on camera and tell me the names and departments of his council of ministers without looking at the paper, I will leave this movement and again stand in his support,” he said.
Prashant Kishor also said that the law and order of Bihar is deteriorating and blamed Nitish Kumar’s mental instability for it. “When the CM is not stable in his mind then it is natural for law and order to deteriorate,” he said.
Karpoori Thakur’s birth anniversary
Prashant Kishor made the remarks during a rally by his party at Patna’s Miller ground to celebrate the 101th birth anniversary of former Bihar chief minister and a beloved politician Karpoori Thakur.
Addressing the media, Prashant Kishor said that he aims to build an egalitarian society, a vision shared by Karpoori Thakur.
“Celebrating Karpoori ji’s birthday and actually working on his footsteps are two different things. We have not made any political remarks. We have expressed our vision based on the idea of Karpoori Thakur to build an egalitarian society. We have described those five pillars that along with reservation in jobs, political participation, till the time there is no equality in distribution of education, land and capital, an egalitarian society cannot be built,” he said.
Born in 1924 in Darbhanga, Bihar, Karpoori Thakur was a freedom fighter who went on to become the chief minister of Bihar. He served two terms as Bihar’s chief minister, from 1970-71 and 1977-79. He died in 1988 in Patna and was awarded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, posthumously in 2024.