"I'm Not X Factor, Bihar Fed Up With Both Alliances": Prashant Kishor Top Quotes

Here are Prashant Kishor's top quotes from NDTV's Bihar Power Play Conclave:

1. I'm confident we would either get fewer than 10 or more than 150 seats. I never declared that I would contest the election from even one seat. I said if I were to contest, I would do it from Kargarh. I'm not the X factor.

2. The perception is that there is no alternative to the Mahagathbandhan or the NDA in Bihar. Perception is one thing, fact is another. Numbers show 1/3rd of people in Bihar neither want to vote for the alliance nor the NDA. Bihar is fed up with both alliances. I believe that Jan Suraaj will be a part of a triangular fight in at least 160-170 seats.

3. 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.

4. We are making contenders contest polls. The only difference is that we have created a new formation to execute this. If we look at the PM Modi campaign in 2014 (which I took care of), it was a new format as the Chief Minister of a state became a national leader. There is no big difference.

5. There is no need for us to break the system of caste politics. Some politicians indulge in caste-based politics. Understanding caste and doing politics over it are two different topics. The 240 people from Jan Suraaj contesting polls belong to a certain caste, and that fact cannot be erased. We can't erase the fact that if you contest polls, you belong to a certain caste. But no one in Bihar will lay an accusation that Jan Suraaj does caste-based politics. No one is saying that I'm a leader of just Brahmins. That way, we can say we can break caste-based politics.

6. In 1984, Congress won massively across India; it won in Bihar as well. In 1989, when VP Singh and Janata Dal won in the north and west, they tasted the same victory in Bihar. In 2014, when there was a PM Modi wave in India, Bihar voted for him as well. When Pulwama and its revenge Balakot happened in 2019, the country voted for PM Modi, and so did Bihar. These examples show that whenever there is a person or an issue that has captured the imagination of the people, they have been elected. The same has happened in Bihar. There are no facts to prove that politics in Bihar revolves around caste.

7. Jan Suraaj said that whenever a decision is made regarding participation, it will be done based on caste - General, OBC, Muslim, Dalit, EBC. But the basis of contesting elections is purely based on merit. Assume 1,000 meritorious people are selected for polls. However, only 243 tickets will be given. When these 243 people are chosen, we ensure that they are not all from the same caste.

8. The Mahagathbandhan is not fighting against BJP's Samrat Chaudhary, a Jan Suraaj leader is contesting. Other contenders have been bought off or intimidated. There's a double MD doctor who is contesting against him. The process for selecting a candidate began in January, and 12,000 people applied.

9. My decision not to contest the election was based on a lack of time. If I go to Raghopur, I won't have time to go elsewhere. If I have two or four days left, I won't be able to go anywhere else. It wouldn't be fair to those who are running on my trust to leave them and run away.

10. I do not do politics like Arvind Kejriwal. The Chief Minister of Bihar is not contesting the elections. If he had contested against Tejashwi Yadav, then people would have said that he was fighting to defeat the leader of the backward classes. Nitish Kumar won't even remember his manifesto. We are ideologically opposed to the BJP.