Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday denied political strategist Prashant Kishor's claim that Janata Dal United leader offered him a post recently.
"It's false. Let him speak whatever he wants, we've nothing to do with it. Four-five years back he had told me to merge with Congress. He has gone to the BJP and is acting as per it..." Kumar said.
Kishor had on Tuesday claimed that he spurned a recent request by Kumar to "lead" the JDU. Kishor, who is on a 3,500-km-long padayatra' that would cover every nook and corner of the state, made the claim in a remote part of West Champaran district, about 275 km from Patna.
"Nitish Kumar has been able to hold on to his chair and thinks he is very smart (mukhyamanti banke bahut hoshiyar ban rahe hain')," said Kishor with uncharacteristic acerbity for a leader whom he has often called a father figure. "After losing the 2014 (Lok Sabha) polls, he met me in Delhi, begging for help. I assisted him in winning the 2015 assembly polls as the chief ministerial candidate of the Mahagathbandhan'. Today, he has the temerity to offer gyan' (wisdom) to me, added Kishor.
Kishor was inducted into the JD(U) in 2018 by Kumar, who then headed the party, and got elevated to the national vice-president's post within a few weeks.
With inputs from PTI
First Published: Oct 8, 2022 5:19 PM IST
