''Trying formula of 1990s'' Bihar'': BJP likens Kishor to
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With many axes to grind against Prashant Kishor, the BJP on Wednesday launched a fresh attack
against the poll strategist-turned-politician whom it likened to the musclemen who having previously captured booths for
their political masters, had themselves started becoming politicians in the 1990s in large numbers.
A day after Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's caustic tweets against the expelled JD(U) leader, the
alliance partner's chief whip in the Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal, who also heads the state unit, came out with a Facebook post
a common feature, though, being avoidance on part of both BJP leaders to mention Kishor by name.
"The one who made a name for oneself by doing business with the BJP is now trying the formula of the 1990s. Burglars
and robbers back then had begun to think, why capture booth for others, better to become leaders ourselves. They also met
with success for some time," said Jaiswal. "But the public now has become far more aware. It does
not vote for goons and ruffians. A 'rajnaitik dhandhebaaz' (political dealer) thinks of carving a niche for oneself with
money power. Had it been possible then only those with deep pockets could become public representatives," he said.
Jaiswal also berated Kishor's accomplishments as an election strategist, pointing out "he seeks to remember the
success of 'chai pe charcha', but wants to forget a failed venture like the 'khat pe charcha' in Uttar Pradesh which was
disastrous ('khaat khadi kar di thi') for two so-called young leaders".
'Khaat pe charcha' or discussions on a cot was a public outreach program said to be masterminded for the
Congress by Kishor ahead of the 2017 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The party stitched a last-minute tie-up with the
Samajwadi Party led by the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was struggling to hold his own in the face of a revolt by
his influential uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav. Yadav and Rahul Gandhi ran an energetic campaign with
catchy slogans describing them as "UP ke ladke" (sons of UP) but the alliance was pulverized by the BJP, which pulled off a
stunning victory, bagging three-fourth majority. Jaiswal also sought to twist the knife by posting
"this is the world-famous Bose speaker. Sometimes when it is used for playing music, it starts believing that it deserves
the credit for the melody. It forgets that it owes its quality to its cost of production which is 10 times greater than that
of other brands". "It is an overused, poor business strategy to offer
free services to whichever party is the favorite during assembly polls in a state and, after the results, claiming
success by getting oneself photographed (with the winning leader)," the BJP leader added.
Starting as a campaign manager for Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls of 2014, Kishor thereafter collaborated
with the alliance among Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Lalu Prasad's RJD and a decadent Congress. The short-lived
coalition trounced the NDA in the assembly polls in 2015. In 2017, besides UP, Kishor worked for the Congress in
Punjab where the party ousted the Akali Dal-BJP coalition from power. He joined the JD(U) in September 2018 and took to
aggressively strengthening the party's student unit by nibbling away the support base of ABVP, which led to much bad
blood between the party headed by Nitish Kumar and the BJP. During the Lok Sabha polls, he was involved with the
YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh where assembly elections were held simultaneously and saw its chief Jaganmohan Reddy's
ascension to power. His clout with the Thackeray family of Shiv Sena has
been blamed, from some quarters, for souring of the party's old ties with the BJP, ultimately resulting in a break-up.
He had begun to attack the JD(U) after it supported the CAA and was sacked when he accused Nitish Kumar of having
spoken a "lie" by claiming that Kishor was inducted into the party on the recommendation of Amit Shah.
At his press conference here on Tuesday, Kishor said that he could not reconcile to Kumar's devotion towards Gandhi
and his association with "Godsewadis" alluding to the Sangh Parivar's association with the Mahatma's assassin.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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