Bihar Polls: Prashant Kishor Claims 3 Candidates Of His Party Withdrew Under BJP's 'Pressure'

Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday alleged that three candidates of his Jan Suraaj Party were forced to withdraw from the Bihar elections under "pressure" from the BJP.

Addressing a press conference, Kishor alleged that the ruling NDA was so scared of losing the elections that it was threatening opposition candidates to withdraw from the race.

"Democracy is being murdered. There has been no such precedent in the country," he alleged, urging the Election Commission to ensure the security of the candidates.

The candidates who were forced to withdraw were fielded in the Danapur, Brahampur, and Gopalganj seats, he said.

Kishor said Jan Suraaj's Brahampur candidate Satyaprakash Tiwari, who runs a clinic in Patna, was actively campaigning till Sunday, but surprisingly withdrew his nomination on Monday morning.

Showing a photo of Tiwari with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP election-in-charge for Bihar, he claimed that it was taken a day before the deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers.

"Pradhan went to Tiwari's home to put pressure on him to withdraw... and the very next day he withdrew his candidature," he alleged.

Kishor claimed the BJP is trying to ensure the victory of the NDA candidate, LJP (RV)'s Hulas Pandey in Brahampur, who is a local strongman.

"The BJP is afraid of candidates who are doctors, educators, activists and social workers, filed by Jan Suraaj Party," he claimed.

Kishor said his party had fielded Shashi Shekhar Sinha in the Gopalganj seat.

"The candidate told me that BJP leaders were putting pressure on him. A BJP MLC, along with his supporters, met our candidate and ensured that the Jan Suraaj nominee withdrew his nominations... and he did it," he claimed.

Kishor said Jan Suraaj had fielded Akhilesh Shah alias Mutur Shah in Danapur.

"RJD's Ritlal Yadav is seeking re-election in the seat. BJP leaders spread a rumour that Shah was missing on the day of filing of his nomination papers, and Yadav was involved in his disappearance," he alleged.

Showing a photo of the Jan Suraaj candidate with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Pradhan, he alleged, "He was forced to withdraw from the race and not allowed to file his nomination papers. He was under political and economic pressure from the BJP's leadership" Kishor claimed the BJP spread a rumour that the RJD candidate abducted the Jan Suraaj nominee, while in fact, he was with the central ministers.

He said the Election Commission must intervene to prevent such incidents, otherwise, the trust of the people in it will weaken.

"If you are not able to protect the candidates, how will you protect voters?" he said, targeting the EC.

"The BJP is trying to replicate the Surat model, in which their candidate got elected unopposed, as all other nominees were coerced to pull out. The BJP does not realise that voters had punished it across the country, and it won just 240 seats, though it had bragged that the tally would be 400-plus in last year's Lok Sabha polls," he added.

Kishor's party had announced candidates for all 243 assembly seats in Bihar. With the withdrawal of three candidates from the race, it will now fight on 240 seats as the last date for filing nominations has already passed.

Reacting to the allegations, the BJP claimed that since Kishor was "not getting much attention", he was targeting its leaders to come into the spotlight.

"Prashant Kishor is a 'painted jackal' whose colour is fading as the polling dates approach. He won't be seen in Bihar after November 14," BJP spokesperson Ajay Alok told PTI.

The elections will be held in two phases, on November 6 and 11. The votes will be counted on November 14.