Prashant Kishor, who faced a massive drubbing in the recent Bihar elections, said on Wednesday that the Rs 10,000 cash doleout to lakhs of women in the state ahead of voting was the primary reason behind NDA's landslide victory.
The NDA, including BJP and JD(U), won 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, dealing a setback to the rival Mahagathbandhan of RJD, Congress and other parties who could muster up just 35 seats.
In an interview to NDTV, Kishor said that the Mukyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, also known as the dashazari scheme, was enough to tip the scales in favour of the ruling NDA. He further criticised the Nitish Kumar government of "buying" the votes of women to ensure a comfortable victory for the alliance.
"Rs 10,000 was enough to sway votes. JD(U) shouldn't have gotten more than 25 seats. The NDA bought votes with cash," Kishor said, reiterating his earlier prediction about the Nitish Kumar-led party.
He said that while his prediction that JD(U) won't win 25 seats appears "wrong on the surface", the scheme ultimately proved to be a big factor since it essentially meant that the government distributed up to Rs 125 crore per constituency.
The Bihar cabinet had approved the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar scheme, offering an initial grant of Rs 10,000 to one eligible woman in every household to start a self-employment venture.
The first instalment was directly credited in September to around 75 lakh women in the state virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a launch event.
The political strategist also questioned the timing of the transfer, saying that the government handed out money "from the day the manifesto was released to the day the election happened."
Kishor's party, Jan Suraaj, contested all 243 seats in the election but could not register a single win.
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