A day after Prashant Kishor criticised his 15-year rule in Bihar and declared a mission to bring in "new thinking and new effort" to revive the state, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was dismissive of the comments. Anyone's opinion is "not important", the truth is, he told reporters today. He got a swift retort from the election strategist.
"You people know whether we have done good in Bihar or not. Someone's opinion is not important. What is important is the truth. People know our work. You all know what work has been done and how much work has been done," Nitish Kumar told the media.
"Since you know, I request you to give the response yourself. When someone says anything, we should respond to the comments but in this case, you can do that yourself, since you know what the reality is," he said.
Prashant Kishor, or PK, responded on Twitter. "Nitish ji is right – the truth is important and the truth is that after 30 years of Lalu-Nitish, Bihar is the poorest and most backward state," he posted.
PK doubled down on what he had said on Thursday: "The amount of truth that is there in their claims of development of Bihar during their respective tenures, it is also a truth that even after the 30-year rule of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar, Bihar is the most backward and the poorest state of the country."
He also said the last 15 years had not gone well for Bihar, reserving a more scathing critique for Nitish Kumar, his one-time party boss who initiated him into politics as the Janata Dal United Vice President but later sacked him.
"Bihar still stands at the lowest level in most of the parameters of development. If Bihar has to come in the category of advanced states, we cannot reach there walking on the same path as in the past 10 to 15 years," said Mr Kishor.
He did qualify his comments, saying a lot had been done on Nitish Kumar's watch in infrastructure, like roads, bridges and health care, but asserted that a lot needed to be done as Bihar was still at the bottom rung.
PK also clarified on avoiding a meeting with Nitish Kumar while in Patna.
"I have no personal fight with Nitish Kumar. We have very good relations. But personal relations is one thing and working together and agreeing is different. If Nitish Kumar calls me for a meeting, I will have to go. But that doesn't mean we agree on everything and that will work together," he said.
"Nitish ji was like my father. But it doesn't mean I cannot have a separate political journey," added the strategist.
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