Jan Suraaj will emerge as an alternate party, said Prashant Kishor (File)
As Jan Suraaj founder and election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor is set to launch his party on October 2, he has said he does not wish to become the leader of the party. The party's leader will be chosen by the people who have worked for Jan Suraaj party in the past two years, he has said.
"Jan Suraaj will emerge as an alternate party. In Bihar, in the last 25 to 30 years, people have been voting for RJD or BJP. That compulsion should end. The alternate should not belong to any dynastic party, but the people who wish to form the party. After campaigning for 2 to 2.5 years, on October 2 more than 1 crore people are laying the foundation of this party. On October 2, the formal announcement would be done. Its name, constitution, and its provisions will be announced. I don't wish to become the leader of the party. The leader will be based on the decision of the people who have worked for the past 2 to 2.5 years for Jan Suraaj," Prashant Kishor said.
He said that forming the party, becoming the leader of the party, or winning the polls is not the biggest challenge.
"The most important factor is to tell the society that you have voted till now based on caste, or for 5 kg of foodgrains or religion-based politics, or voted for children of leaders, but till now you have never voted for education or jobs of your children. Votes should be given for the future of their children. I travel to villages to explain this to people. I would continue raiser awareness," he added.
He said that his focus was to bring a change in the lives of people. "My aim is not to form a party and win polls but vision is to build a Bihar such that people from other states state coming to Bihar for jobs," he said.
Hitting out at Nitish Kumar, he alleged the Chief Minister had handed over the entire system to a few of his advisors.
"When JD(U) won't even remain, what is the question about his successor? I had been a part of JD(U) and worked with Nitish Kumar. The capital of JD(U) is Nitish Kumar. When capital would end, how would the company run on interest? It won't continue. The party has no future. As far as advisors are concerned, ask anyone in Bihar, and they will say that there is 'jungle raj' of officers. How did this happen? In the past few years, instead of his MLAs, ministers and workers, Nitish Kumar has handed over the entire system to 2-4 of his advisors. I wish him good health, but people say that he is not very active as far as his physical and mental conditions are concerned. So, his advisors are running everything. They are people who are not answerable to anyone because they are retired officers," Prashant Kishor said.
Nitish Kumar's advisors take decisions based on land survey, liquor and "smart meters", he alleged.
Mr Kishor said, "It is clear that the popularity and power of Modi ji and this (NDA) government has decreased. The longevity would depend on the elections in the nine states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu in the next 2-2.5 years. If results are against the BJP, then questions will definitely be raised about the stability of the government. If the BJP performs well in these states, then its power will remain."
He further said that BJP has had a lacklustre performance in Bihar, where it neither has a face nor effort.
"The BJP's compulsion is that they cannot remove Nitish Kumar from the post of Chief Minister. They also know that they cannot win elections in Bihar with Nitish as the Chief Minister, but they cannot do anything in Bihar as they need the help of Nitish to run the government in Delhi," he said.
On Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, the Jan Suraaj founder said that Mr Gandhi's leadership in Congress is fully established and that the Congress leader still has a long way to become a leader of the nation.
"There has been a little improvement in the Congress's condition. Rahul Gandhi made efforts in the last 1.5-2 years, and he has benefitted through that too. His leadership in Congress is fully established. But he is now established as the leader of Congress, not that of the country. His grandmother, Indira Gandhi faced the biggest loss of her life in 1977 - I think the Congress won 154 seats at that time. This (2024 polls) is being dubbed as the biggest win of Rahul Gandhi's life and Congress has won 99 seats. So, this is the difference. It shows that Rahul Gandhi still has a long way to go in becoming a leader of the nation," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)