Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday alleged that after being voted to power by people impressed with his track record in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "diverted wealth of the entire country to his home state".
The I-PAC founder, whose first claim to fame was his handling of Modi's spectacular Lok Sabha polls campaign of 2014, made the scathing attack on the PM at a public meeting to mark the launch of his own political outfit Jan Suraaj Party.
"People like you and me voted for Modi, listening to his speeches, taken in by the impression that he has done a lot for the development of Gujarat. Indeed, Gujarat is progressing. The wealth of the entire country seems to have been diverted to Gujarat where factories are being set up in every village. People from Bihar are flocking to that state in search of employment," Kishor alleged.
The 47-year-old leader was underscoring the point that people got from governments what they had voted for in elections and asked, "How can people of Bihar get development if they have voted for the growth of Gujarat?"
Kishor, who had also worked with JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad when the two arch rivals had joined hands to form the 'Mahagathbandhan' which swept the Bihar assembly polls of 2015, also took a swipe at the two leaders who have dominated politics in the state for the past three decades.
"You voted for Lalu ji in the name of social justice and honour for the poor. And nobody can deny that the poor got the right to live with dignity during his regime even though law and order went for a toss and economic progress came to a grinding halt," said Kishor, referring to the RJD's nearly 15-year-long rule.
"Likewise, you voted for Nitish hoping for better roads and electricity. He delivered on these. It is another thing that his fetish for smart pre-paid meters is breaking the back of power consumers," said Kishor, who incidentally was formerly a national vice president of JD(U).
"Similarly, today people are voting for Modi for five kg of ration. So all are getting that even if corruption may be slicing off one kg of the quota... But, during my extensive travel across Bihar I have learnt from the people that never have they voted to secure a better future for their own children," he said.
"Jan Suraaj campaign, which has today become a political party, is an attempt to explain to the people the very nature of the malaise affecting the state. Vote for your own children, on the issues of better education and job opportunities. And you will see the change," he added.
Kishor's tirade against leaders of the state's three largest parties could be seen as an attempt to dispel the impression that he was merely a "spoiler" who would cut into votes and queer the pitch for other players.
While the RJD has gone to the extent of calling Jan Suraaj a "B team of the BJP", state leaders of the saffron party have voiced suspicion that he was being propped up by former clients, who include leaders as diverse as K Chandrasekhar Rao, Y Jagan Mohan Reddy, Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee.
Earlier in the day, Kishor announced the launch of his political outfit Jan Suraaj Party, a much-anticipated move by which he hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm.
Kishor also named Manoj Bharti, a Madhubani-born former Indian Foreign Service Officer, as working president of the party, saying the latter will hold the post till March when organisational polls will be held.
The party was launched at Veterinary College Ground in the state capital in the presence of many renowned figures, including former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma and ex-MP Monazir Hassan.
The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state, from Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the first Satyagraha in the country, in a bid to mobilise the people for a "new political alternative" that could cure Bihar of its chronic backwardness.
