Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP, may join hands again, says Prashant Kishor; JDU responds

New Delhi: Continuing his attack on Nitish Kumar, political strategist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday (October 19, 2022) claimed that the Bihar Chief Minister is in touch with his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that he may join hands with the party again if the situation demands so. Talking to the news agency PTI, Kishor, who has earlier worked with the Bihar CM both as a professional and a party colleague, said that Nitish Kumar has kept a line of communication open with the BJP through Janata Dal (United) MP Harivansh.

"People who are thinking that Nitish Kumar is actively building a national alliance against the BJP will be surprised to know that he has kept a line open with the BJP. He is in touch with the BJP through his party MP and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh Ji," the 45-year-old activist said.

He added that Harivansh has not been asked to give up his Rajya Sabha post for this reason even though the JD(U) has severed ties with the BJP.

"People must keep this in mind that whenever such circumstances arise, he can go back to the BJP and work with it," Kishor, who is currently on a 3,500-km-long 'pada yatra', covering every nook and corner of Bihar, said.

The JD(U), however, said that the Bihar chief minister has publicly announced that he will never again in his life join hands with the BJP.

"We strongly refute his claims. Kumar is in active politics for over 50 years and Kishor for six months. Kishor has made such a misleading comment to spread confusion," JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi said. 

Nitish Kumar snapped his party's ties with the BJP in August this year and joined hands with the RJD-Congress-Left alliance in Bihar. 

After coming to power in Bihar in 2005 as the face of the BJP-led NDA, Kumar first broke ties with the party in 2013 and joined hands with the RJD-led opposition in the state in 2014. He then switched sides in 2017.

The BJP, notably, has accused him of changing alliances due to his "greed" for power.