Kishor, who was touring Jehanabad district, as part of “Bihar Navnirman Yatra”, aimed at mobilising public opinion in favour of his fledgling party, which came a cropper in assembly polls held a few months ago, made the remark in response to queries from journalists on the political situation.
“I had said at the time of the assembly polls that even if the NDA won the elections, Nitish Kumar would not be the chief minister. My prediction may have seemed incorrect back then. But less than four months later, Nitish Kumar is on his way out,” said Kishor, who has worked closely with the chief minister, as a political strategist as well as, later, as national vice president of the JD(U) headed by the septuagenarian.
Kishor, 48, has for some time been alleging that Kumar was not enjoying sound mental health and, therefore, was unfit to be the chief minister.
The Jan Suraaj Party founder added, “Now Bihar will have a government headed by the BJP and it will not work for the state as it will be controlled by people from Gujarat sitting in Delhi”.
Kishor also said the people of Bihar must now realise the “mistake they committed by not seeing through the game of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who come here only to fetch votes”.
“I also believe that, but for the blatant bribery of voters, the NDA would not have won the last assembly polls,” Kishor said.
The allusion was to Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, rolled out just ahead of assembly polls, as part of which Rs 10,000 each were given to more than 1.5 crore women. It is widely believed that the scheme had played a crucial role in ensuring a landslide victory for the NDA, which bagged 202 seats of the 243-strong Bihar assembly.
