Bihar Elections: Prashant Kishor Claims BJP Pressuring his Candidates to Withdraw

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Oct 21: Accusing the BJP of intimidating Jan Suraaj Party candidates, the poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday that the NDA scared to losing the elections was threatening the opposition candidates to withdraw from the contest.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kishor alleged that three of his Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) withdrew their nominations “under pressure” from the BJP.

Kishor said he would raise the issue with the Election Commission. “The BJP has built an image in the last few years that no matter who wins elections, the BJP forms the government. Look at the condition of the party that called Jan Suraaj a vote-cutter and said we have no identity. The polling process has begun, and NDA is terrified.”

“And they are not afraid of the Mahagathbandhan, which they use to scare people. They warn the people that if they don’t vote for them, Lalu Yadav’s ‘Jungle Raj’ will return. This time, people have a new option, Jan Suraaj. Jan Suraaj is the way out of the 30-year slavery, because of which people are forced to vote for the BJP and Nitish Kumar because of Lalu ji’s fear, and for Lalu ji because of the BJP’s fear,” Kishor said.

Three Jan Suraaj candidates, he said, were forced to withdraw their nominations: Mutur Shah from Danapur, Satya Prakash Tiwari from Brahampur, and Shashi Shekhar Sinha from Gopalganj.

Mr Kishor questioned, “Have you ever seen the country’s Home Minister and education minister pressuring rival party’s candidates to withdraw nomination?” He said Jan Suraaj would register a complaint with the Election Commission, but in the same breath he accepted the helplessness of the poll body. “What will the Election Commission do? It will do what the government wants,” he added.

“Democracy is being murdered. There has been no such precedent in the country,” he alleged, urging the Election Commission to ensure the security of the candidates. The candidates who withdrew from the race were fielded in the Danapur, Brahampur, and Gopalganj seats, he said.

“The BJP is trying to replicate the Surat model, in which their candidate got elected unopposed, as all other nominees were coerced to pull out. The BJP does not realise that voters had punished it across the country for it, and it won just 240 seats, though it had bragged that the tally would be 400-plus in last year’s Lok Sabha polls,” he added.

Mr Kishor’s party had announced candidates for all 243 seats in Bihar. With the withdrawal of three candidates from the race, it will now fight on 240 seats as the last date for filing of nominations has already passed.

In Danapur, Kishor said, the Mahagathbandhan candidate has the image of a bahubali (a political strongman). “So, the BJP scares the people, ‘vote for us, otherwise he will make your life hell’. This time, the people of Danapur decided not to vote for the BJP out of fear,” he said.

Mutur Shah, he said, took the Jan Suraaj symbol but did not reach the poll body’s office. BJP leaders said supporters of RJD’s candidate Ritlal Yadav abducted Mutur Shah, Kishor said. Holding a photograph, he said, “See here, Mutur Shah is with Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.”

Accusing the BJP of pressuring its candidates, he said, “This is the BJP’s character. You tell me, an ordinary trader who has entered politics, if the Home Minister calls him, what option does he have?”

In Brahampur, he said, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has fielded strongman Hulas Pandey. “Jan Suraaj’s candidate was Satya Prakash Tiwari. He campaigned for three days. Yesterday, he withdrew his nomination. And see the picture behind the scenes,” he said, holding up a photograph of Sinha with Union Minister Pradhan. “Bihar needs to know if Jan Suraaj’s leaders are running away or if democracy is being murdered. Candidates are being threatened openly,” he said.

Speaking about Gopalganj, Kishor said Jan Suraaj’s candidate, Shashi Sekhar Sinha, was a regular at party meetings. “Till 8 pm the day before yesterday, he was campaigning for the polls. After 11 pm, a BJP MLC and other prominent leaders met him and pressured him to withdraw his nomination,” Kishor said. He then showed a photograph of Sinha with BJP leaders.

“Jan Suraaj’s 240 warriors are still in the arena and won’t rest till they uproot NDA. And everything will be clear on November 14 (counting day). Prashant Kishor and his Jan Suraaj associates are not going to be scared, no matter how many candidates you buy, threaten, or confine, the election will be fought and fought strongly,” he said.

Kishor claimed that the NDA did not fear Mahagathbandhan because they know the Opposition’s candidates include “bahubalis and sand mafias” “They will tell the people that they should vote for them to prevent the return of ‘jungle raj’. But they fear good people, doctors, traders, educationists and social workers,” he said.

Spinning a popular dialogue from Salman Khan’s Dabangg, ‘thappad se dar nahi lagta, pyaar se lagta hai’, Kishor said, “These people don’t fear goons as candidates, they fear good people. This is Jan Suraaj’s fear. We have fielded good people, but they are not political people. Their families and relatives are being pressured to make them withdraw their nomination,” he said. “If candidates are not safe, how will voters be safe?” Kishor asked, urging the poll body to step in. “Jan Suraaj’s warriors will not step back. Bihar will change,” he said.