Prashant Kishor Gets Discharged From Hospital, To Continue With Fast-Unto-Death

Patna: Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, on Saturday, was discharged from a hospital in Patna after his health improved.

The party, in a statement, (roughly translated into English) said, "Prashant Kishor has been discharged from Medanta Hospital in Patna after his health stabilized but his hunger strike is still continuing. Will announce the next phase of Satyagraha by tomorrow evening. Will meet people throughout the day tomorrow."

However, the 47-year-old former political strategist is continuing with the 'fast-unto-death' that he launched on January 2 in protest against alleged irregularities in a BPSC exam held last month.

Notably, Kishor was admitted to the private hospital on Tuesday, a day after his arrest by the police for staging a dharna at a site in the city where such agitations are prohibited, and granted bail by a court hours later.

He was kept in the ICU for a day, before being shifted to the general ward, even as his party colleagues urged the aspirants and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to put pressure on the young leader to call off the fast.

Meanwhile, a seven-member delegation of the party, led by working president Manoj Bharti, called on Governor Arif Mohammad Khan at the Raj Bhavan.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Bharti said, "We submitted a memorandum to the governor who expressed concern over Prashant Kishor's prolonged fast. We told him that Kishor could be convinced to call off the fast if the chief minister agreed to talk to a delegation of aggrieved candidates." "The governor told us that it was a doable thing and he would have a word with the chief minister, in the interest of students as well as the well-being of Prashant Kishor," Bharti claimed. (with PTI inputs)