‘Accepted defeat even before going to battlefield’: RJD, BJP mock Prashant Kishor’s decision to not contest Bihar polls

Prashant Kishor

The RJD, BJP and JD(U) on Wednesday reacted to poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor’s announcement that he will not contest the upcoming Bihar polls. In response to Kishor’s statement, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary said that the Jan Suraaj Party founder has realised that he and his party will face a humiliating defeat in the upcoming assembly polls.

“Kishor has accepted defeat for the Jan Suraaj Party even before going to the battlefield,” Tiwary said in conversation with PTI.

Kishor must realise that politics is not as easy as providing consultancy to political parties, said Tiwary, adding, “Kishor's tyre has been flattened.”

Bihar BJP spokesperson Niraj Kumar also made a similar statement, mentioning that Kishor admitted defeat for himself and his party. “Kishor’s bubble burst even before the elections. By announcing that he won’t contest, he has admitted defeat for himself and his party. They will face a humiliating defeat in the polls,” Kumar told PTI.

JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, meanwhile, said that Kishor’s move is “sheer embarrassment for his workers”. “He has run away before the electoral battle. Earlier, he claimed to have undertaken pad-yatras to understand the people’s issues. What happened to that?” he asked.

In an interview with PTI, Kishor said that a "tally of less than 150 seats" for Jan Suraaj will be considered a defeat.

"The party has decided that I should not contest the assembly polls. And therefore, the party has announced another candidate from Raghopur, against Tejashwi Yadav. It was a decision we took in the larger interest of the party. If I were to contest, it would have distracted me from the necessary organisational work", he stated.

Assembly election will be held in Bihar in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the counting of votes to take place on November 14.

The Jan Suraaj Party has so far announced 116 candidates for the 243-member Bihar Assembly.