- Jan Suraaj Party did not ally with any party before Bihar polls and won't do so after, Prashant Kishor said
- Prashant Kishor predicted Jan Suraaj will win either fewer than 10 or more than 150 seats in Bihar polls
- Prashant Kishor gave a written promise of no alliances before or after the election
Jan Suraaj Party did not ally with any other party before the Bihar election and won't do so after the polls either, its leader Prashant Kishor said at the Bihar Power Play conclave in Patna today. What's more, he gave it in writing. Kishor was speaking to NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal, Managing Editor Padmaja Joshi, and NDTV's Bihar bureau chief Prabhakar Kumar.
Asked to put a number to how many seats Jan Suraaj can win in its debut election, he said, "I can see two probabilities. People have seen Jan Suraaj as an alternative, but voting requires a leap of faith. People need a leap of faith because of the prolonged phase of hopelessness." He added that Jan Suraaj will win either fewer than 10 or more than 150 seats.
To a question on whether he may tie up with other parties if Jan Suraaj emerges as a kingmaker after the polls, he replied, "We don't do the politics of this side and that side. If the people don't give us a mandate, we will continue our work. I can give it to you in writing, neither an alliance before the polls, nor after the polls." At this point, NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal asked Kishor if he would indeed "give it in writing", a term the poll strategist often uses while making predictions in interviews.
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Kishor was then asked if he would consider an alliance if the results threw up a fractured mandate or a hung assembly. "If a situation comes where the government cannot be formed without us, I know people will switch. I won't be able to stop them," he said. Kishor blamed this on the "lure of Lakshmi (money) and fear of (central agency) CBI".
"Hypothetically, if there are 30 MLAs of Jan Suraaj and these 30 are the key to government formation, will the MLAs listen to me? But I can say I will still be honest," he said. Indirectly accusing the BJP of horse-trading, he said, "Get it written by Amit Shah too that if the NDA falls short of a majority, no MLAs will be bought or pressured. You are asking if we won't sell, ask those who will buy."
Earlier, Kishor was asked about his experience as a poll strategist and how contesting is different from making others contest. "Here too I am making others contest. The only difference is that I have created a new formation to execute this. Earlier, I worked with ready formations," he said.
When NDTV cited the example of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal, who defeated incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the 2013 Delhi polls, Kishor replied, "It's nice that you say Arvind Kejriwal and I are different, our politics is different. Also, the Bihar Chief Minister is not contesting the polls; Sheila Dikshit was. If I contested against Tejashwi (in Raghopur), someone would say I am contesting against a backward leader."
