A political strategist-turned-politician, Prashant Kishor launched his Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) after three years touring Bihar. The coming Assembly elections will be the first test of his goal to emerge as the third alternative in Bihar politics, with the JSP having fought before this only bypolls to four seats, where it managed to make some impact. Kishor speaks to The Indian Express about his party’s campaign, and why he doesn’t think the Special Intensive Revision by the Election Commission, the Congress’s vote chori allegations or the BJP’s ghuspaithiya pitch are the real issues in these polls. Excerpts:
About 60% of the people, cutting across castes and religions, want change. That may not mean that all of them back the JSP, but what is sure is that they want the incumbent government to go. Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister is as good as over. Now, one option before the people is the NDA forming a government without Nitish. But the BJP has no pan-Bihar face after the death of Sushil Kumar Modi. The next option is the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan. But why would people back those behind jungle raj? Tejashwi was Deputy CM for over three years, was there any change in the RJD attitude? Some people reason that Tejashwi should not be punished for his father’s misrule. But I want to know if the people responsible for the misrule in Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi’s regimes have been removed from the party.
Then, there is a third option – the JSP. Some would say it is a new party and they will decide when the time comes. But people have to decide if they want an expired medicine, or to try out a new one.
* BJP leaders are building a narrative of ‘ghuspaithya (illegal immigrants)’ against the Congress’s claims of vote chori. Rahul Gandhi also led a Voter Adhikar Yatra recently as part of the campaign.
It is sheer elitism to call a 10-odd-day trip of Rahul Gandhi to Bihar a ‘yatra’. The media pays him too much attention because he is the son of a former prime minister. I have been travelling through the length and breadth of Bihar for three years, but not many are talking about it…
Whether Rahul Gandhi talks of vote chori or PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah talk about ghuspaithiya, the thing is none of them is talking about Bihar, the migration from the state, unemployment or the state of education. Narendra Modi has been in government for over 11 years now, Amit Shah is supposed to be an efficient Home Minister, the country’s borders are supposed to be safe under their strong leadership. Then, how do infiltrators get into Kishanganj or Araria or anywhere?… Let Amit Shah first concede his failure to stop infiltration, then we will talk about ghuspaithiya. And, what did Rahul Gandhi try to achieve by travelling through some districts and talking of vote chori? He should rather gherao Parliament and sit on a dharna in front of the EC office in Delhi.
There are Assembly elections in Bihar. One should discuss Bihar’s problems.
* How do you view the EC’s SIR exercise in Bihar, to revise poll rolls just before the elections?
Our democracy is not weak. The Supreme Court has made it clear that anyone who has a valid document is entitled to vote. One who has an Aadhaar card is a voter. There was much debate on the Aadhaar card, but eventually the Supreme Court settled the debate. The EC has no right to determine citizenship. Those who are saying one will lose one’s voting rights are fools.
* You have accused key NDA leaders of corruption.
I do not believe in the politics of allegations and counter-allegations, but in my tour across Bihar, I got complaints of large-scale corruption. This (the NDA government in Bihar) is the most corrupt government since Independence. But, let me make it clear, Nitish Kumar is honest. It’s some people around him who have created anarchy of sorts, with Nitish not in the best of health. It is similar to Dr Manmohan Singh being an honest PM but the Congress government facing allegations of huge corruption…
Since the BJP and NDA often talk about ‘chaal, charitra and chehra (conduct, character and face)’, we did some research on a few NDA leaders and found a level of corruption under the present dispensation that is multiple times that under Lalu Prasad’s regime. Take the instance of Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal. I asked how he had got control of a medical college in Kishanganj which, as per rules, has to be run and controlled by Sikhs. He is still to give me a convincing reply.
Then, there has been so much talk about RJD leader Tejashwi having studied only until Class 9. We found that Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said in an affidavit in court that he had studied only up to Class 7, but in his affidavit to the EC, he claims a doctorate of literature from the University of California. I have only asked him to tell the people when he passed his Class 10th and Class 12th.
I also asked BJP leader and Health Minister Mangal Pandey how Dilip Jaiswal managed deemed university status for the Kishanganj medical college.
My next question was for JD(U) leader and minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary over the purchase of land plots worth about Rs 200 crore.
If these allegations are false, let them file defamation cases against me.
* What about the BJP raising questions regarding the funding of your party?
Senior BJP leaders do not have the guts to hold a press conference on me. They got a party functionary to make allegations against me. There is complete clarity on my sources of funding. And the BJP does not even need to hold a press conference on this, it has its own governments in Bihar and Delhi, I am not hiding anywhere, they can set ED (Enforcement Directorate), CBI or R&AW after me. They can get me arrested if I have done anything wrong.
* Is Bihar ready for an end to 35 years of socialist rule, as represented by the RJD and JD(U)?
I don’t think it was socialist rule, which talks about an egalitarian society. Rather, it was a deviated form of socialism in the name of social justice by so-called followers of socialism. Under (socialism), society is divided into two classes – the oppressor and the oppressed. But here society is divided into many parts…
When Lalu Prasad took over as CM in 1990, Bihar was the most backward state. At the end of the RJD’s 15 years in power (2005), it was still a backward state. Nitish Kumar ran a government with the slogan of ‘development with justice’ for 20 years. Bihar is still a backward state.
The caste-based survey carried out by the Mahagathbandhan government, which was also led by Nitish, revealed that only 3% of the Dalits, about 5% EBCs and about 7% Muslims clear Class 12 board exams in the state. What kind of benefits to the oppressed are they talking about? In reality, this kind of power set-up has created only new feudalists. Three-four castes became the neo-feudalists.
* So, what exactly are you offering people?
We are saying that while quota in jobs should continue, there should be representation in politics in proportion. There has to be an adequate share for all classes in education and capital. If 10 lakh children pass Class 12, there should be two lakh SCs among them. Until there is land reform, we cannot address the issue of landlessless – about 60% of Bihar’s people are landless against the national average of 38%. In one-third the cases of land disputes, the state government itself is a litigant.
Some people say upper castes will get upset if we talk about land reform. But is that wrong, because one lakh acres of land was donated by the upper castes and others during the Bhoodan movement? Where is that donated land?…
I am also surprised to hear Tejashwi Yadav saying socialism belongs to their forefathers… Socialism does not belong to Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi. It belongs to the likes of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Madhu Limaye and George Fernandes. And the best lesson of socialism is that it should be free from dynasties. Tejashwi is a leader only because he is the son of Lalu Prasad.
* You speak against caste in politics. But in our rigid caste structure, don’t all parties factor that in when they field candidates?
Often, it is not the larger population that talks about castes. Only 5% of the people do so, including politicians. Tell me, are there people belonging to Narendra Modi’s caste in Bihar? How did he win then in 2014? Nitish Kumar’s caste (OBC Kurmi) comprises less than 3% of the population. How did he win?
Caste is surely a truth of society and it does impact one’s vote, but caste is not the only truth. There are people and events that also matter. Some people can capture the public’s imagination – the public voted for Rajiv Gandhi in 1984, V P Singh in 1989, and Modi in 2014. It is we who form too many opinions on caste.