New Delhi: As the Bihar assembly elections draw near, tensions are rising between the BJP and political strategist Prashant Kishore. Kishore, who recently launched his political party, Jan Suraaj, has intensified his criticism of the ruling BJP, accusing its leaders of fraud, while the BJP has filed an FIR claiming he was tarnishing the BJP’s image and accused him of stealing data and ideas during the 2020 assembly elections.
After mostly ignoring him for some time, BJP leaders have begun openly labeling Kishore as a “political thief and fraud”. This shift comes after Kishore systematically targeted various BJP leaders.
Initially, he focused on Dilip Jaiswal, the BJP state president, accusing him of fraudulently acquiring a medical college. Following that, Kishore directed his attention to Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, claiming that his educational records were forged. Most recently, Kishore accused Bihar’s Health Minister Mangal Pandey in an ambulance scam. He alleges that under Pandey’s leadership, the health ministry purchased 466 ambulances at an inflated price of Rs 28 lakh each, while other governments managed similar purchases for just Rs 12 lakh. Kishore further claims that the BJP state president granted the status of deemed university to a medical college in exchange for money.
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‘BJP more corrupt than even Lalu’
Expanding on his allegations of corruption against Bihar’s Health Minister Mangal Pandey, Kishore stated: “In February 2022, the Health Department issued a tender for the acquisition of 1,250 ambulances at a total cost of Rs 200 crore. While the Bihar government purchased 466 ambulances for Rs 19,58,257 each, the bidding process raised significant concerns. Only two companies, Tata Motors and Force, were manufacturing these ambulances. However, Tata Motors was excluded from the bidding due to a clause stipulating that the ambulances must have air conditioning only in the patient seating area, while Tata claimed their design provided AC in the entire vehicle. The government ultimately chose Force’s ambulances.
“In the short span of three years, the cost of these ambulances surged from Rs 19 lakh to Rs 28,47,580. The bid documents mentioned that companies were required to have service centres in every district, yet Force lacks such centres across the state. Interestingly, their website lists the ambulance price at Rs 21 lakh, and Odisha acquired similar ambulances at Rs 18 lakh each. Even Uttar Pradesh managed to buy 2,500 ambulances for just Rs 12 lakh each. This raises crucial questions about the inflated costs in Bihar, which appear to benefit only Mangal Pandey,” he added.
Kishore further alleged that “Mangal Pandey received a Rs 25 lakh bribe from Dilip Jaiswal through RTGS for the purchase of a flat in Dwarka. In his capacity as health minister, Pandey then awarded Jaiswal, the BJP state president, a medical college in Kisangani, granting it deemed university status.”
Prashant Kishore has raised serious questions about the new Chief Secretary of Bihar, Praty Amrit, who previously served as the Principal Secretary for Health. Kishore challenged him regarding the controversial purchase of 12 lakh ambulances, which were allegedly bought at a cost of Rs 27 lakh each. He urged Amrit to clarify the details surrounding this ambulance acquisition.
Kishore claimed, “It is widely believed in Bihar that Lalu is corrupt, but the BJP is an even bigger thief than the RJD. They indulge in corruption behind closed doors. This isn’t the BJP of Govindacharya and Kailashpati Mishra; this is the BJP of thugs and corrupt individuals.”
In July, Kishore accused the BJP’s state president and former revenue minister of seizing a medical college through deceitful means. In a press conference, he stated, “Dilip Jaiswal has not only taken control of the Sikh minority college, Mata Gujri Memorial Medical College, but has maintained his grip on it for 25 to 30 years. He systematically ousted the entire family of the institution’s founder and eventually became the director, starting his career as a clerk.” Kishore pointed out that Jaiswal’s fraudulent rise from clerk to director took 25 years, noting that Rabri Devi and Jaiswal are siblings, and their family members have studied at Jaiswal’s medical college, which is why the RJD has never raised questions on issues regarding Jaiswal.
In July, Prashant Kishore leveled serious accusations against Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, alleging that he submitted a false affidavit, which resulted in the cancellation of his election due to discrepancies regarding his age.
Kishore stated: “I have all the documentation concerning Samrat Choudhary. He failed in the seventh grade. The real name is Rakesh Kumar. The court had annulled his membership of the Legislative Assembly for submitting a false affidavit as an MLA. It’s amusing to see that this individual resurfaced under a new identity, Rakesh Kumar alias Samrat Chaudhary. Now, Rakesh Kumar has vanished, leaving only Samrat Chaudhary. Examining his affidavits from the last two elections, it’s astonishing that his age jumped to 48 in just ten years. While our age naturally increases by ten years, his age claims an increase of 38 years. In merely a decade, he went from being in the seventh grade to earning a D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters, after PhD).”
Following these allegations, the BJP filed an FIR against Kishore, accusing him of damaging Samrat Choudhary’s reputation. Bihar BJP working committee member Krishna Singh Kallu submitted the FIR at the Gandhi Maidan police station, claiming that Prashant Kishor used derogatory language against Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. Krishna Singh’s complaint states that Kishor’s remarks aim to tarnish the image of the BJP and its leaders.
In a recent escalation, the BJP accused Prashant Kishore of being a fraud and a political thief, alleging that he stole ideas and data during the 2020 assembly elections. Bihar BJP spokesperson, while addressing a press conference in Patna, claimed that a Congress worker named Shashwat Gautam had filed a case against Kishore in 2020, asserting that associates of Kishore took election campaign ideas from the Patliputra office.
The complaint mentions an individual named Osama Khurshid, who contested the Patna University election on a JD(U) ticket and accused Kishore of taking a laptop containing sensitive data. Although the laptop was returned, the data allegedly went missing. According to the FIR, Kishore launched a campaign titled ‘Baat Bihar Ki’ on 18 February 2020, reportedly utilising the same material. The complaint accuses Kishore of intellectual property theft. However, Kishor’s lawyer emphasised that the data in question was publicly accessible and any resemblance in campaign themes was purely coincidental. In response to these allegations, BJP spokesperson Danish Iqbal stated, “The real face of Kishore has been exposed; he is not a leader but a political thief.”
BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel recently stated to ThePrint, “Prashant Kishore is making baseless allegations against BJP leaders to gain attention. The people of Bihar are aware which party is likely to hurt his electoral ambitions. The upcoming elections are a contest between the Mahagathbandhan and the NDA alliance, and Kishore is not a serious contender; he’s only looking to siphon off a few votes, which is why he’s making such accusations.”
In the past, neither Samrat Choudhary nor Jaiswal have directly confronted Kishore; in fact, Samrat Choudhary has referred to him as a ‘big brother’.
Mangal Pandey on 8 August defended himself against Kishore’s charges saying that the case of the ambulance order is in court. “I have checked, payment has not been made to the company concerned. As far as the loan taken from Jaiswal is concerned, I have paid him back,” said Pandey.
A BJP leader from Bihar commented, “Prashant’s increased attacks seem aimed at gaining a share of the BJP’s vote base. It’s clear he won’t be able to make significant inroads into Lalu’s core vote base of Muslim Yadavs. Even with the BJP’s substantial election machinery, we struggled to make headway in the RJD’s voter bank. Consequently, it won’t be easy for Kishore. He seems to be targeting middle-class voters and aspirational upper-caste and OBC segments who are eager for a better future. In his speeches, Kishore is focusing on these demographics, which could pose a challenge for the BJP. This explains his attacks on key BJP figures in Bihar, including Samrat Choudhary, Deputy CM Kushwaha, State President Jaiswal, and Brahmin leader Mangal Pandey, as he attempts to penetrate our voter base.”
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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