Bhagalpur, June 14: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Friday charged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with having "touched the feet" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure his own continuance in power.

Kishor, who has been running the 'Jan Suraaj' campaign, was addressing a public meeting in Bhagalpur.

"People ask me why I am now criticising Nitish Kumar, having worked with him in the past. He was a different man back then. His conscience had not been put up for sale," said Kishor, who had managed the JD(U) president's election campaign in 2015 and formally joined the party two years later.

"The leader of a state is the pride of its people. But Nitish Kumar brought shame to Bihar when he touched the feet of Modi," he alleged, referring to the NDA meeting in Delhi last week.

Kumar's JD(U) won 12 seats in Lok Sabha polls to emerge as the second largest ally of the BJP which failed to get a majority on its own.

Kishor said, "There is so much talk about Nitish Kumar playing a key role in Modi's return to power. But how is the Bihar CM leveraging his position? He is not using his clout to ensure benefits for the state. He is touching feet to ensure that he remains in power, with BJP support, even after 2025 assembly polls."

Notably, Kishor had first shot into fame in 2014 for handling the spectacularly successful Lok Sabha poll campaign of Modi. By the time he gave up political consultancy in 2021, Kishor had worked for several high-profile politicians, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Jagan Mohan Reddy.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Unidentified miscreants allegedly broke into a jewellery shop here and decamped with approximately 70 kg of silver articles worth crores of rupees, police said on Friday.

The incident was reported at a jewellery shop near 8th Mile, Havanur, on April 28, they said.

According to police, the accused are suspected to have entered the premises from the rear after breaking open the lock and drilling a hole through the wall of the shop.

The incident came to light at around 7 am on April 28 when shop staff opened the premises and discovered signs of forced entry and extensive damage to the rear section of the building, following which they alerted police authorities.

Preliminary estimates indicate that around 70 kg of silver articles, worth crores, were stolen. Most of the silver items displayed in the cupboards were taken, while valuables kept in the locker remained intact, a senior police officer said.

Police said CCTV cameras inside the shop were not functioning. Efforts are underway to identify the suspects using footage from cameras installed in the vicinity.

The miscreants also allegedly took away the Digital Video Recorder (of CCTV) of an adjacent shop, the officer added.

Investigators are also examining the tools and techniques used to gain access to the shop, suspecting the involvement of a professional gang with prior knowledge of the store layout.

A case has been registered at Bagalagunte Police Station, and further investigation is underway to identify and apprehend the accused, police said.