Prashant Kishor unveils 3,000 km long “padyatra” in Bihar from October 2
New Delhi:
Prashant Kishor today did not announce a new political party but said he would devote himself to bringing in a new body in Bihar, his home state.
The campaign strategist vowed to hold a 3,000-kilometer march or padyatra from October 2 to meet as many people as possible and called it part of his mission to bring “nayi soch, naya Prayas (new thoughts, new efforts)” in Bihar.
Prashant Kishore, or PK, added that there are no elections in Bihar in the near future, so a political party is not in his plans at the moment. But he remains open to questions about his future.
“I want to start from scratch – I will spend the next three or four years reaching out to people who have ideas about Jan-Suraj (good governance),” he said.
While declaring his Bihar Mission, the strategist eliminated speculation about any alliance with the main state parties by criticizing the rule of both Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar.
“The last 15 years,” he said, have not gone well for Bihar.
“I will not announce any political program or political party today. I intend to gather all those who want change in Bihar.”
Over the past few months, he said, his team has identified 17,000 people who believe in good governance. “About 90% of these people believe that Bihar needs new thinking. In the next three to four months, I will try to meet as many people as possible,” he said.
Prashant Kishor also explains, again, why his negotiations with Congress have hit a dead end.
It came to the Congressional “Empowered Action Group”, which the party invited him to join.
The congress showed all seriousness to work on its plan and even agreed on how to implement it, he said.
“But they wanted me to join the Empowered Action Group, which has no status in the Congress constitution,” Mr. Kishor said.
He also said that he does not see himself working with Nitish Kumar, the Minister of Bihar, whom he has avoided meeting so far.
“I have no personal conflicts with Nitish Kumar. We have a very good relationship. But a personal relationship is one thing and working together and agreeing is another. If Nitish Kumar calls me to meet, I’m going to have to go. But that doesn’t happen. It means we agree on everything and that will work together,” said PK.
When asked about his previous announcement of a Bihar yatra, not a beginner, Mr Kishor said he had been waiting for the Covid pandemic to break out.
“If someone doubts my sincerity, if they don’t believe in my commitment to Bihar, then I need to put in more effort. All I can say is, give me time. You right to doubt me, but give me a Mr. Kishor said.
