Patna:Poll strategist Prashant Kishor during his ongoing padyatraMonday claimed that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is 'calling him every day' to work with him. He also slammed Nitish over poor law and order, challenging that the CM cannot walk in any village without security.
“If I wish to work with Nitish Kumar, nobody can stop me. He is calling me every day. He called me before the Jan Suraj foot march and before that he called me to Delhi as well. I don't have any intention to join politics in Bihar or to make any intervention. If I would have wanted to become a minister I would easily become one in 2015," said Kishor, who is popularly known by the first PK.
He said that he was responsible for "making the ministers". "I was his chief adviser. If I wanted to become minister, I would have become but I am not at all interested. If Nitish gives 10 lakhs jobs, I will withdraw my campaign," PK said at Ramgadhva village in West Champaran district on the 58th day of his foot march.
Kishor is on his 3500 km ‘padyatra’ as part of his Jan Suraaj movement that will cover the entire state of Bihar in a span of about one and a half years. "People are using abusive words on the ground for Nitish Kumar and his regime. Nitish Kumar cannot walk in any village in Bihar without security and government staff.
In Bihar bureaucracy, corruption is at its peak. No work is done without giving money. If Lalu ji's regime was jungle raj of criminals, then Nitish Kumar's regime is jungle raj of officials," Kishor alleged.
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Kishor said there was a "huge difference" between Nitish Kumar of 2014 and Nitish Kumar of 2017. He resigned on moral grounds after losing the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 but somehow continues to hold the chair even after losing the assembly elections badly in 2020, the poll strategist said.
"When Nitish Kumar was with the BJP, he never talked about the special status to Bihar. As soon as he separated from the BJP, he started demanding it. At present, the Bihar government is not able to take the amount from the centre. The center gives Rs 10,000 crore annually to Bihar for MGNREGA. However, the Bihar government took only 40 per cent. With this, there is no meaning of special status to Bihar," he said.
Referring to the problem of landless people in Bihar, Kishor said that the biggest reason for poverty and unemployment in Bihar is a large number of landless people. Kishor said that according to statistics, 58% people in Bihar are landless and have to go outside Bihar for employment.
Talking about the condition of the farmers, he said that the farmers have to sell their grain at prices lower than the support price. He pointed out that farmers were suffering a loss of 25 to 30 thousand crores every year. Kishor stressed that if arrangements for the market are made in the state and the farmers start getting their support price, the farmers will be majorly benefitted.
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He also alleged that the water resources department in Bihar has become a source of money extortion. “The problem of flooding in Bihar can be solved by linking the rivers. North Bihar remains affected by floods and South Bihar is drought affected. The problem of floods is not going to be solved by making dams or stopping the water.
The Water Resources Department has become the biggest department of corruption and loot in today's time. Whichever party has been in power, has kept the water resources department to itself. There is no trace of expenditure in this, so the proper solution to the flood is yet to be found,” Kishor said.
On the question of the increasing population of Bihar, Prashant Kishor said that to keep the population balanced, the total fertility rate should be 2.1, however it is above 3. He stressed on awareness campaigns for family planning apart from increasing the age of girls for marriage. Kishor stated that the population cannot be controlled by making laws. “Girls are married at the youngest age in Bihar and the first pregnancy in Bihar is the youngest in the whole country,” Kishor said.
