'I’m the kingmaker': Prashant Kishor takes aim at ‘dynastic politics’

'I’m the kingmaker': Prashant Kishor takes aim at ‘dynastic politics’

Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has dismissed that rejects caste realities.

"It’s wrong to say I don’t accept the caste politics of Bihar. I do — but I don’t want to see the state only through that lens. When people voted for Congress after the 1984 riots or for Modi after Pulwama, those were moments when emotion and issues, not just caste, drove voters," he said in an exclusive interview with News18.

Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party, formed a little over a year ago, has grown out of his statewide padyatra, a campaign that has taken him to hundreds of villages over the past three years.

Drawing a comparison with Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra, Kishor said, “That yatra had no resonance. You all celebrated a 10-day event, but no one talks about mine, which lasted for months. I’ve given up my wealth, work, and family for this cause.”

On the same day that Tejashwi Yadav was declared the CM face of the Mahagathbandhan, Kishor was blunt in his response. “What’s the big deal? It’s dynastic politics. Who are Gehlot or Rahul Gandhi to announce Tejashwi? Lalu decided, and it happened. For me, he’s no factor," he said.

While Kishor has chosen not to contest, he insists it’s a strategic choice, not retreat. “Had Nitish Kumar contested, I would have too. But he isn’t. If I wanted to be an MP, I could have called Didi (Mamata Banerjee), do you think she’d have refused me a Rajya Sabha seat?”

Setting an ambitious goal for himself, Kishor declared, “Winning even 140 seats would be a loss in my eyes. I’m not the king, I’m the kingmaker.”