'Nitish will contest with BJP, but...': Prashant Kishor's big claim ahead of assembly polls
Nitish Kishor dismissed speculation that Kumar may leave the NDA ahead of the polls due to the BJP’s reluctance to name him as the CM candidate.
- Mar 5, 2025,
- Updated Mar 5, 2025 6:35 PM IST
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will contest the upcoming assembly polls in alliance with the BJP but may switch sides later in a bid to retain power. However, he asserted that Kumar’s declining popularity makes a fifth consecutive term nearly impossible.
“Anybody can become the chief minister in November, after the assembly elections are over, except Nitish Kumar. You can take it from me in writing. If I am proven wrong, then I will give up my own political campaign,” Kishor said at a press conference in West Champaran on Wednesday.
Kishor dismissed speculation that Kumar may leave the NDA ahead of the polls due to the BJP’s reluctance to name him as the CM candidate. “He will contest in alliance with the BJP. He has always done so, barring the elections of 2015, when I had handled his campaign,” he said.
The Jan Suraaj Party founder also claimed that the BJP was hesitant to officially declare Kumar as the CM face due to his growing unpopularity. “I challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to declare that Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister for a full five-year term after the elections. If they do so, the BJP will find it hard to win seats,” he said.
Kishor, who was expelled from JD(U) in 2020, predicted that Kumar might attempt to switch alliances after realizing that the BJP will not back him for another term. However, he argued that the JD(U) would fare so poorly in the elections that Kumar would not be able to reclaim the chief minister’s chair, no matter which camp he joined.
Continuing his attack, Kishor alleged that the 74-year-old leader was “physically tired and mentally retired”, referring to remarks by late BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. “Not me, but Sushil Kumar Modi had stated that Nitish Kumar suffers from a serious mental illness. I have been challenging him for long to spell out the names of ministers in his own cabinet, without looking at a piece of paper. He cannot tell the name of the district he is touring unless prompted by officials. It is unfortunate that with such a state of mind, he is ruling Bihar.”
Kishor further criticized Kumar’s public display of reverence for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at last year’s swearing-in ceremony. “He brought disrepute to Bihar by touching the feet of Modi in front of other chief ministers. If he has so much reverence for the PM, he could have done it in private. But he is resorting to sycophancy merely to keep himself in the chair,” he said.
He also took a dig at Kumar’s inability to revive Bihar’s sugar industry despite being in power for nearly two decades. “Why does he not use his clout with the BJP, which is now dependent on JD(U)’s support to survive in power at the Centre, to revive the moribund sugar industry in Bihar?” Kishor asked.
Kishor, who is positioning his Jan Suraaj Party as an alternative in Bihar, said his goal was to pull the state “out of the political rut” controlled for decades by Kumar and his rival, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He also slammed the BJP and Congress for enabling the RJD’s rule in Bihar over the years.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will contest the upcoming assembly polls in alliance with the BJP but may switch sides later in a bid to retain power. However, he asserted that Kumar’s declining popularity makes a fifth consecutive term nearly impossible.
“Anybody can become the chief minister in November, after the assembly elections are over, except Nitish Kumar. You can take it from me in writing. If I am proven wrong, then I will give up my own political campaign,” Kishor said at a press conference in West Champaran on Wednesday.
Kishor dismissed speculation that Kumar may leave the NDA ahead of the polls due to the BJP’s reluctance to name him as the CM candidate. “He will contest in alliance with the BJP. He has always done so, barring the elections of 2015, when I had handled his campaign,” he said.
The Jan Suraaj Party founder also claimed that the BJP was hesitant to officially declare Kumar as the CM face due to his growing unpopularity. “I challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to declare that Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister for a full five-year term after the elections. If they do so, the BJP will find it hard to win seats,” he said.
Kishor, who was expelled from JD(U) in 2020, predicted that Kumar might attempt to switch alliances after realizing that the BJP will not back him for another term. However, he argued that the JD(U) would fare so poorly in the elections that Kumar would not be able to reclaim the chief minister’s chair, no matter which camp he joined.
Continuing his attack, Kishor alleged that the 74-year-old leader was “physically tired and mentally retired”, referring to remarks by late BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. “Not me, but Sushil Kumar Modi had stated that Nitish Kumar suffers from a serious mental illness. I have been challenging him for long to spell out the names of ministers in his own cabinet, without looking at a piece of paper. He cannot tell the name of the district he is touring unless prompted by officials. It is unfortunate that with such a state of mind, he is ruling Bihar.”
Kishor further criticized Kumar’s public display of reverence for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at last year’s swearing-in ceremony. “He brought disrepute to Bihar by touching the feet of Modi in front of other chief ministers. If he has so much reverence for the PM, he could have done it in private. But he is resorting to sycophancy merely to keep himself in the chair,” he said.
He also took a dig at Kumar’s inability to revive Bihar’s sugar industry despite being in power for nearly two decades. “Why does he not use his clout with the BJP, which is now dependent on JD(U)’s support to survive in power at the Centre, to revive the moribund sugar industry in Bihar?” Kishor asked.
Kishor, who is positioning his Jan Suraaj Party as an alternative in Bihar, said his goal was to pull the state “out of the political rut” controlled for decades by Kumar and his rival, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He also slammed the BJP and Congress for enabling the RJD’s rule in Bihar over the years.