BJP leadership may become 'more hardline' in future, claims Prashant Kishor

Prashant Kishor

Jan Suraaj party founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday claimed that BJP leadership has seen significant shifts over the years and suggested that the evolution may continue, noting that future leaders could project a more "hardline" image than that of the current leadership.

"I had tried to make people understand the evolution of the BJP leadership. First, there were Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. Vajpayee ji was considered the mascot of soft Hindutva and Advani ji was considered a hardliner," he told ANI.

He added that LK Advani now appears soft in hindsight.

"Today, if you compare Advani ji and Modi ji - those who considered Advani ji a hardliner will today find him soft when compared to Modi ji. So, I said that in the time to come, the trajectory of the BJP leadership will keep becoming that of a hardliner gradually. A time will come, after 10-15 years, that BJP's leadership will be with some hardliner before whom Modi ji's Hindutva would seem soft," Kishor said.

He emphasised that many changes have taken place in the BJP leadership over the years and many more will keep taking place in the coming time.

Kishor's statement comes ahead of the upcoming Bihar elections. He has claimed that his party will defeat the BJP-led alliance by forging unity between the Hindu and Muslim communities.

"Not all Hindus support the BJP. In fact, it can't even be said that a majority of Hindus are with the BJP. We are looking to build an ideology-based alliance," Kishor said, adding, "We want to form an alliance between Hindus, who believe in the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar, and Muslims. Such an equation can easily defeat the BJP."