Prashant Kishor comes out with first direct attack on Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
Patna, Jan 28: Election strategist-turned- politician Prashant Kishor on Tuesday revolted against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, charging him with having "lied" about his induction into the party and questioning if it was tantamount to admitting capitulation before the BJP.
In his first direct attack on the JD(U) national president, Kishor, who joined the party in September 2018 and was elevated to the rank of its national vice-president just weeks later, lashed out at Kumar for saying that he was inducted into the party at the instance of Union Home Minister and the then BJP chief Amit Shah.
Kumar had made the comment earlier in the day in response to queries by scribes about the attack by Kishor on Twitter against Shah and its possible impact on the JD(U)'s alliance with the BJP as also his working for Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi where the NDA partners are contesting the February 8 assembly polls together.
"@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours! And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah?," he wrote on microblogging site Twitter.
Kishor has been rankling the BJP for quite some time, questioning his own party's decision to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament and insisting that the JD(U) contest a significantly higher number of seats than the saffron party in the assembly polls in Bihar due later this year.
There was no immediate reaction from leaders of the JD(U), who were stunned by Kishor's action.
The development, however, is an indication that Kishor may have burnt his bridges as Kumar is a stickler for party discipline and does not brook any dissent.
Talking to reporters earlier in the day after a meeting of JD(U) workers in Bihar, Kumar refused to be drawn into the controversy over Kishor engaging in a "twitter war" with top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"He remains in touch in his professional capacity. I have learnt through newspapers that he is working for the Aam Aadmi Party. But he remains in touch with so many people. I inducted him into my party upon Shah's recommendation," Kumar claimed.
"I will be happy if he remains in the party. I would be okay if he chooses otherwise. But if he has to stay he must do so respecting the party's structure," Kumar said replying cryptically to further queries.
.@NitishKumar what a fall for you to lie about how and why you made me join JDU!! Poor attempt on your part to try and make my colour same as yours!
— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) January 28, 2020
And if you are telling the truth who would believe that you still have courage not to listen to someone recommended by @AmitShah?
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J'khand: 4 minors detained for 'raping' girl at birthday party
Ranchi (PTI): Four minors were detained for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl at a birthday party in Jharkhand’s Ranchi, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place on March 31 within the Namkum police station limits. An FIR in this regard was lodged on April 16 based on the girl’s statement, they said.
“All five, including the victim, were friends, and the girl had gone to attend the birthday party of one of those detained. At the party, the accused consumed alcohol and allegedly raped her,” said Ramnarayan Singh, the officer in-charge of Namkum police station.
“The four, aged between 15 and 17 years, have been detained and the medical examination of the girl is underway,” Singh said.
Further investigation is underway.
