Nitish Kumar Government In Grip Of Retired Babus : Prashant Kishor

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, alleging that the state government was being "run by four retired bureaucrats" and the CM was in the "grip of these former babus".

Addressing a press conference here, three days ahead of floating his own political party, he vowed to dislodge the JD(U) president from power.

Mr Kishor charged the longest-serving CM of Bihar with running his government through a handful of "retired bureaucrats".

He also claimed that the 2025 Bihar assembly polls would be fought on the issue of 'three S', that is 'sarab' (liquor), 'survey' (land) and 'smart meter' and asserted that these issues would prove to be the "final nail in the coffin for the current regime".

"The Nitish Kumar government is being run by four retired bureaucrats. The CM is in the grip of these babus. Neither Kumar nor these bureaucrats are aware of the problems being faced by the people. Kumar has changed now. He has lost his morality and is only interested in securing the chief minister's chair," Mr Kishor alleged.

His 'Jan Suraj' initiative will become a political party on October 2.

"When we form the government after the 2025 assembly polls in Bihar, we will end the liquor ban within one hour," he said, adding that "the existing prohibition law in the state is fake".

The state has been incurring a "loss of nearly Rs 20,000 crore every year", while the "liquor mafia and officials continue to make money from illegal trade", Mr Kishor said.

The Jan Suraj chief said he would continue to speak against the policy and was not afraid of losing votes of women.

"Whether I get votes of women or not, I will continue speaking against the liquor ban since it is not in the interest of Bihar," he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)