Nitish Kumar sounds ultimatum to Prashant Kishor: 'If you stay in JDU, be within limits'

Breaking his silence on JD(U) Vice President Prashant Kishor's vocal stance against the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that Kishor is free to go wherever he wants. Speaking to reporters, Kumar has said that he does not interfere in Kishor's work and it won't matter if he stays or leaves the party. He also emphasized that if Kishor wants to continue in the party, he is expected to follow the "basic foundational norms." The Bihar CM and JDU chief also accepted that Kishor was inducted in the party on then BJP chief Amit Shah's reference.

"I have no business, it is his will to go wherever he wants. If he is doing anything he might have some interest. He might want to go somewhere. He came in with Amit Shah's reference. As a strategist he works for few clients. Right now he is working for AAP. You can ask him if he wants to stay or not. If he chooses to stay than it will be within basic foundation of the party," Nitish Kumar said. 

#WATCH Bihar CM on Prashant Kishor:Someone wrote a letter I replied to it,someone is tweeting,let him tweet. What do I've to do with it? One can stay in the party (JD-U) till he wants,he can go if he wants...Do you know how did he join the party?Amit Shah asked me to induct him. pic.twitter.com/wlN4Q2o9uo

— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020

 

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A war-of-words is going on within the NDA in the state. In an exclusive interview to Republic Media Network, Kishor had said that JD(U) is a bigger party and will contest on more seats than the BJP. Slamming his statement, Deputy CM Modi, taking to Twitter clarified that there has been no decision on the seat-sharing as of now. He had slammed Kishor, saying that he is trying to benefit the opposition by speaking against the alliance and by not following the terms and conditions of the alliance. The fight continues with Kishor going as far as reminding Sushil Modi of the 2015 defeat of the BJP by JDU, RJD and others as part of Mahagathbandhan. 

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Kishor and IPAC

Kishor, a poll strategist heading a team called I-PAC, first came into limelight when he worked for Narendra Modi's campaign in 2014. He then engineered the poll campaign in Punjab for Captain Amarinder Singh. In 2015, Kishor worked for the JD(U) when the party was a part of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and led the grand alliance to their landslide victory in the assembly elections in Bihar. He also worked for the Congress party in the assembly polls of Uttar Pradesh, however, BJP won the election.  he is currently working for the AAP. 

Last year when his team was roped-in to work for Mamata Banerjee's poll campaign in West Bengal, Nitish Kumar had given similar response that he does not interfere in Kishor's personal work.

In the Lok Sabha election earlier this year, Kishor worked for YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh and led the party to a massive victory in both assembly and general election. Recently Kishor worked with Shiv Sena in Maha-dramatic Maharashtra polls and is currently working with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's AAP for Delhi assembly election. Notably, Kishor first hit headlines after helping Narendra Modi win the 2012 Gujarat assembly election. 

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