Prashant Kishor to Bihar voters: ‘Stop voting for jaat and bhaat’

Prashant Kishor, founder of Jan Suraaj, asked the people of Bihar to stop supporting political parties based on ‘jaat’ (caste) and ‘bhaat’(free ration). He said this voting behavior is causing the state's ongoing backwardness.

He came out with the catchy rhyme at a rally in the Ramgarh assembly segment, where a by-poll is scheduled for next month.

Kishor, who is also a prominent political strategist, criticised the treatment of his home state by successive governments in Bihar and the Narendra Modi administration at the Centre.

 “Lalu Prasad and chief minister Nitish Kumar kept the whole of Bihar trapped in ‘jaat’ for 35 years. For the past 10 years, Modi has been short-changing you in exchange for five kgs of ‘bhaat.’ You must stop voting for ‘jaat’ and ‘bhaat’ if you want a better future for yourself and your children,” Kishor said at the rally.

Kishor, whose emerging party aims to make its mark in Ramgarh, a seat the RJD wants to keep and the BJP is trying to reclaim also urged voters not to support the saffron party, saying that it has indicated its intention to back Nitish Kumar for another term after next year's assembly polls.

He alleged that Nitish Kumar has substituted the reign of criminals from the Lalu era with the dominance of an unchecked bureaucracy. 

The current land survey has caused unrest, and residents are facing high electricity bills and unexpected disconnections since the introduction of mandatory smart pre-paid meters, said Kishor.

“If you support the BJP, it will strengthen the hands of Nitish and your woes will continue”, alleged the Jan Suraaj founder which is contesting all four assembly seats of Bihar where by-polls will take place on November 13.

In addition to Ramgarh, bypolls will take place in the Imamganj, Belaganj, and Tarari assembly constituencies. These seats became vacant earlier this year when the MLAs resigned after being elected to the Lok Sabha. 

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has assigned the poll symbol 'school bag' to all four candidates nominated by Jan Suraaj, according to a party statement.

With PTI inputs