- Prashant Kishor said it would be easier to win the polls if he is given Rs 100 crore for every single seat
- "All the support will be in your favour in that case," he told NDTV
- His party failed to win a single seat in the Bihar elections
Former election strategist Prashant Kishor, whose Jan Suraaj party failed to open an account in its electoral debut in Bihar recently, claimed it would be easier to win the next elections if he is given Rs 100 crore for every single seat in the state.
There are 243 assembly seats in the state. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) stormed to power in Bihar last week, winning 202 seats in the two-phased elections.
"Give me Rs 100 crore for each seat, I will win it. All the support will be in your favour in that case," Kishor told NDTV's Rahul Kanwal in the 'Walk The Talk' show.
"People who feared Lalu Prasad - reference to Jungle Raj - voted for the NDA... the ones who got Rs 10,000, irrespective of caste, voted for the NDA," he added, referring to the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana', under which Rs 10,000 was transferred to the bank accounts of each women in the state before the polls.
The Jan Suraaj party founder made the remarks as he alleged that votes were brought for Rs 70 to Rs 80 crore during the elections. The comments also came when he was asked about the impact of his continuous claims that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is unwell and unfit to serve another term.
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Asked if such controversial comments may stir up emotions among voters, Kishor said: "If we are going to talk about buying votes, then such a model has run in Odisha as well. There was a lot of speculation around (former Chief Minister) Naveen Patnaik's health. The authorities there would manage the elections and Patnaik would win. People used to think he was very popular. This continued for 20-25 years."
He added: "Similarly, the elections in Bihar were fought with government money. Don't generalise everything and think everything is hunky dory."
On Saturday, Kishor claimed the Nitish Kumar-led statement "diverted" a Rs 14,000-crore World Bank fund for the assembly elections. He said the funds were "diverted for doles and freebies".
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"Since June, till polls were announced, Rs 40,000 crore was splurged" by the Nitish Kumar government to "purchase" votes through public money, he said.
"The scale was unprecedented. Even Rs 14,000 crore of the loan they received from the World Bank has been diverted for doles and freebies," he alleged.
Referring to the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana', he said, "It must have been the first time that people kept getting the money till a day before voting took place, despite the model code of conduct. This was enough to sway women who may have been hand-to-mouth."
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In the elections that were held on November 6 and 11 and the results of which were announced on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) five and Rashtriya Lok Morcha four.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Opposition bloc - the Mahagathbandhan - could only manage 35 seats. While the RJD got just 25 seats, its second-worst performance in a Bihar election after 2010, the Congress won six seats, down from 19, the CPI(ML)L two seats, the CPI(M) one, and the CPI zero.
