Muslims should care for their own representation in politics, not become camp followers: Prashant Kishor

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Sunday called upon Muslims in Bihar to fight for their due share in politics and refrain from becoming “camp followers” of any political party.

According to a report by news agency PTI, Kishor made the remarks at a minorities convention held in Sabzibagh, a Muslim-majority locality in the state capital that falls under his Bankipur assembly constituency.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support during the recently held by-poll. Now we must strive to ensure a fair deal for the minorities, who must get due representation in democratic politics,” Kishor told the gathering.

The city’s Muslim population is said to have voted overwhelmingly for Kishor, instead of the RJD, which used to be their first party of choice, in the by-poll. The debutant wrested the seat which the BJP had been winning on the trot since 1995.

The by-poll had been necessitated after BJP president Nitin Nabin, a fifth-term MLA, gave up the assembly seat upon election to the Rajya Sabha.

“I say to all social segments in Bihar to care for the future of their own children instead of getting swayed by leaders claiming to champion their cause. That is my request to the minorities also. They must fight for their due share in politics, instead of becoming camp followers of any party,” Kishor said, according to PTI.

The former poll strategist has been courting the minority community since his first foray into politics half a decade ago, when, as the then JD(U) national vice president, he attacked the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Criticising the JD(U)’s equivocal stance on the issue led to Kishor’s expulsion from the party, following which he floated his own political outfit. The Jan Suraaj Party failed to make an impact in the assembly polls last year, though Kishor had promised “a good representation” to various segments of society, including women, minorities and the extremely backward classes.

Kishor, who has made it clear that the Jan Suraaj Party will contest all eight seats of the legislative council where elections may be held next month, also took potshots at the RJD, the main opposition party, which recently tried to steal a march by coming out with the names of six candidates for the polls.

“Does the list look like that of RJD leaders? It is full of turncoats. It seems the party has given tickets to whoever supplied them with money,” Kishor alleged.

Significantly, one of the RJD candidates is Rashmi Vinayak Gautam, whose husband Vinayak Gautam, a renowned doctor based in Sitamarhi, had earlier been with the Jan Suraaj Party.

Talking to reporters later, Kishor also criticised suggestions from a section of NDA leaders that Bakhtiyarpur, the birthplace of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, be named after the veteran leader, who was the longest-serving chief minister of Bihar until giving up the post and entering the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

“This is yet another sign of the fact that Bihar is now under BJP rule. There will be less substantial work and more noise of renaming places,” the Jan Suraaj Party founder said.

Although the JD(U) has maintained silence over the issue, pointing towards Kumar’s distaste over places being named after him, alliance partners like Union minister Chirag Paswan, who heads Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and Hindustani Awam Morcha president Santosh Kumar Suman have supported the idea.

Asked about JD(U) leaders’ wish that the party be named JD(U)-Nitish, Kishor told PTI, “I have said this before and am saying it again. It makes no difference whether the party retains its name, or is named after its supremo or even restores its original name, Samata Party. The fact remains that today the party is being run not by Nitish Kumar but by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.”

(With input from PTI)