Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday hinted that he was receiving financial assistance for his “Jan Suraaj campaign” in Bihar from his former clients, many of whom were now chief ministers of various states.
He made the disclosure at a press conference at Bagaha in West Champaran district.
“The money is coming from Saraswati. Not a single rupee from the leaders and parties was taken for the services rendered in the last 10 years. The financial assistance are coming from my former clients, six of them are chief ministers now. They are the ones who are giving initial help for the Jan Suraj Abhiyan. In the next few days, we are creating a big platform of crowd funding. People of Bihar can also make small contributions. The population of Bihar is 13 crore. Even if two crore people give ₹ 100, it will become ₹ 200 crore and the campaign of ‘Jan Suraj’ will go ahead with public money,” Kishor said, without naming any of his clients.
Kishor has been on a ‘padayatra’ since October 2 from Mahama Gandhi’s Bhitiharawa ashram in West Champaran and intends to cover 3,500 km on foot, touching every nook and corner of his home state before his campaign evolves into a full-fledged political party.
His IPAC has, in the past, lent its services to Arvind Kejriwal, M K Stalin, Mamata Banerjee and Jagan Mohan Reddy, chief ministers of Delhi, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh respectively. This apart, he also helped Amarinder Singh win Punjab for the Congress.
During his 45 minutes of interaction with media persons, Kishor described the “development works” undertaken by the Nitish Kumar government as “farce”.
“As we moved through the villages, it becomes clear that migration has taken a formidable form. About 70 per cent of youths in villages have gone out for livelihood,” said Kishor, who was expelled in 2020 from CM Nitish Kumar’s party JD-U, where he briefly served as its national vice-president.
He said the education system in Bihar has completely collapsed. “Where there is building, there are no teachers and students. Where students exist, there are no teachers and buildings,” Kishor said, adding that electricity in villages was the only small consolation in the name of development. “But erratic electricity bills has punched a hole in the pocket of villagers,” he said.
