Prashant Kishor criticised Nitish Kumar over the JDU's support to the Citizenship Act
Janata Dal United leader Prashant Kishor today launched a veiled attack on his party boss, Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar, praising his counterparts in Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala for having said "no to CAB and NRC" and asserting it was "time for others to make their stand clear".
"The majority prevailed in Parliament. Now beyond judiciary, the task of saving the soul of India is on 16 Non-BJP CMs as it is the states who have to operationalise these acts. 3 CMs (Punjab/Kerala/WB) have said NO to #CAB and #NRC. Time for others to make their stand clear," the election strategist tweeted, referring to the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens.
His tweet came a day after he declared that he was "not giving up" his stance on the issue despite appeals from senior JDU leaders that once the party has taken an official stand on the issue, people must not air their "personal opinion" in public.
Mr Kishor, who was inducted into the party in September last year and elevated to vice president weeks later, had started off with expression of disappointment earlier this week over the JDU's decision to support the bill, holding it to be against the party's commitment to secularism and Gandhian ideals.
As the JDU, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), hardened its stance, Mr Kishor's outbursts grew shriller. Known for his disapproval of Nitish Kumar walking out of the Grand Alliance in 2017 and choosing to form a new government with the BJP instead of seeking a fresh mandate, Mr Kishor asked the party leadership to "spare a moment" to recall the victory in the 2015 assembly election without which "the party and its managers would not have been left with much to cut any deal with anyone".
The BJP in Bihar replied to Mr Kishor's comments. "There are intentional fools in this country who do not have faith in parliamentary democratic system. They must know that once a bill is passed by parliament, it becomes the law of the land which must be respected by every citizen of India," Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand tweeted.