What JD(U) leader said on Prashant Kishor-Nitish Kumar meet: 'No offer...'

Amid speculation that poll strategist Prashant Kishor could be in talks with the JD(U) for a reunion after a bitter fallout with party supremo and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his subsequent sacking in 2020, party chief Rajiv Ranjan Lalan Singh has cleared the air.

A recent meeting between Nitish Kumar and his once-close aide Prashant Kishor had political circles abuzz with speculation of a possible reunion between the two. Kishor, who held the top post in the Bihar office, was expelled by Nitish in 2020 amid his sharp comments against the Centre.

JD(U) chief Lalan Singh on Saturday dismissed the buzz and said the party had not given the poll strategist any offer to join the party. He said Kishor was "not a political person" but a "businessman" who is only interested in "marketing" for the profit of his business.

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"Prashant Kishore (poll strategist) is not a political person. He's a businessman, and does marketing to increase his business. No offer was given to him (to join the JD(U). He himself wished to meet the chief minister...," news agency ANI quoted the JD(U) chief as saying.

Kishor's I-PAC is a political consultancy firm, credited for various state political campaign victories including that of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress for the Bengal assembly polls which saw her coming back to power last year.

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Giving details on the Kishor-Kumar meeting that was reported to have taken place this week, Lalan Singh said, "Bihar CM ultimately told him to meet the party's national president."

"We talked for 1.5 hours in Delhi; told him to work within the party discipline, and that everyone should accept the party's decision irrespective of diff opinions."

"A time of 4pm was set for him to meet the chief minister, but two hours before that, he told the media that he's called but he won't go, CM will wait. This is all a part of marketing,' he added.