Launching his new movement "Jan Suraaj", election strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday denied any immediate plan to form a political party and announced a 3,000 kilometres-long "padyatra" — journey on foot — across Bihar starting on October 2, the Gandhi Jayanti.
Kishor said 17-18,000 prominent Bihari people are associated with him and he would spend the months of August and September to take Jan Suraaj's idea to every section of the society through these 17-18,000 people.
He said, "My goal with Jan Suraaj is to reach every city and village of Bihar, meet their people, and learn their aspirations. I will start my journey on foot on October 2 from Gandhi Ashram in West Champaran that would cover 3,000 kilometres of the state."
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While Kishore denied formation of a politcal party at the moment, he did not rule out its possibility in future.
He said, "If a large section of these people — 2,000, 3,000 or 4,000, I cannot give you a number at the moment — come together on a platform or a movement and then decide together that we need a political outfit or a political party, then a political party will be announced at that time. If such a party is formed, it will not be Prashant Kishore's party. It will be the party of all those who want to contribute to it."
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Calling Bihar India's poorest and least-developed state after 30 years of Lalu-Nitish regimes, Kishor said the way forward for Bihar in next 10-15 years cannot be the one it has followed in last 10-20 years. A "nayi soch, naya prayas" (new vision, new attempt) is needed for it, said Kishore.
Kishor also commented on his relationship with the Congress party and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He said he has not had any fallout with Kumar.
Regarding his rejefusal to join the Congress party's Empowered Action Group, he said the party and he had differences over the nature of EAG. He said he preferred EAG to be formed by an executive order of the Congress party president. Otherwise, he said, such a group could be contradictory to the party's existing mechanism and could become counter-productive.
Earlier this week, Kishor had hinted his turn towards active politics with a tweet announcing his move towards "real masters, the people" for "Jan Suraj — People's Good Governance".
If Kishor joins active politics, it would not be his first stint. He was earlier with Nitish Kumar's party JD(U) but he was expelled due to sharp differences with Kumar over differences on issues such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Later, it was speculated he would join the Congress party but he later said on Twitter that he had turned down the Congress offer.
