Prashant Kishor takes a dig at 'big neta' Nitish over job promise; 'Let 12 months pass...'

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday in a befitting reply to Nitish Kumar's 'ABC' remark on his political knowledge said that while the Bihar Chief Minister is a big leader and knows everything from 'A-Z', the coming 12 months would make it clear who understands the 'XYZ' of Indian politics. He also took a jibe at the JD(U) leader saying that after serving as the Bihar CM for about 17 years, Kumar had suddenly remebered that 10 lakh jobs could be provided to the youth of the state. 

"After being the Chief Minister for 17 yrs, Nitish Kumar has now remebered that 10 lakh jobs could be given. He is a big leader, he knows everything from 'A-Z' while others don't know anything. Let 12 months pass, then we'll ask who knows 'ABC' and who knows 'XYZ'," news agency ANI quoted Prashant Kishor as saying. 

Further, Kishor also spoke on the Opposition's unification call for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which is currently being led by Nitish Kumar. "What's new in it, how can we consider that something new is being done by the Opposition? I don't think it will bring a dramatic change pertaining to 2024 elections," he added. 

Kishor also opined on Bihar Chief Minister's Delhi visit and said, "I don't think it will affect national politics at all. If one is meeting people in Delhi, that doesn't mean one's stature is rising on a national level. Even Mamata Banerjee and Telangana Chief Minister KCR met many people in Delhi."

'Does he know the ABC of...': Nitish Kumar hits out at Prashant Kishore

Kishor's comments came after Nitish Kumar jibed at him for not knowing the 'ABC of the work' done by JD(U) since 2005. Following the poll strategist's criticism of the Mahagatbandhan alliance, Kumar said, "Prashant Kishor was with me earlier. He didn't listen to me and kept on working with different parties across the country. His statements have no meaning for me. Does he even know the ABC of the work done since 2005?" 

Nitish Kumar further alleged that his ex-aide and former vice-president of his party Prashant Kishor had a desire to join hands with BJP. "He only knows how to get publicity, and give statements. He is an expert in this. If someone makes this type of statement, he might want to be with BJP," Kumar added.

Kishor's dig at 'Mahagathbandhan alliance'

Earlier while giving an exclusive interview to Republic TV after Nitish Kumar walked out of the BJP-led NDA government, the ace poll strategist delinked the formation of the Mahagatbandhan government from the political scenario of the country. "This is a Bihar-centric experiment and has no impact on the national level," he said. 

Notably, Prashant Kishor just a month after joining Nitish Kumar's JD(U) in 2018, became the vice president of the party, but was expelled from the party on January 29, 2020, for 'anti-party activities'. While the IPAC co-founder helped several parties including BJP, AAP, TMC, Congress, and JDU win elections in several states, he quit the poll strategy space last year.