A state of “inertia” has scourged politics in Bihar, former election strategist Prashant Kishor has stated, contending that positions of energy have remained concentrated amongst “just 1,200-1,300 families” within the final three many years in his dwelling state.The celebrated information analyst made the declare at a press convention right here, the headquarters of Vaishali district, the place he launched into a mass outreach programme as a spadework for his a lot talked-about 3500-km-long “padayatra” he proposes to launch on Gandhi Jayanti.
“Bihar was among the best governed states till the 1960s. Things took a nosedive in the late 1960s and by the 1990s we were at the bottom in terms of all development indices. One thing that characterised this period was political instability. In the 23 years’ period (1967-1990), Bihar saw more than 20 governments,” he remarked. Kishor, who has labored in his skilled capability with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in addition to the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, reiterated on Sunday that the situation of the state leaves a lot to be desired “even if we believe Nitish ji’s claims of good governance and Lalu ji’s claims of social justice as true”.
He has additionally named his state-specific political initiative ‘Jan Suraaj’, dismissing ideas that he was impressed by Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, which beat entrenched events just like the Congress and the BJP, first in Delhi and extra not too long ago in Punjab. “If at all I have drawn inspiration from anybody, it is from Gandhi and the Congress of his times, when the party was not controlled by a family or a coterie and anybody with fire in his belly was free to join and move up,” he stated.
“The reason why I have chosen Bihar is not just because it is my state… Firstly, here we see concentration of power on a scale that has few parallels. In the last 30 years, all MLAs, MPs and ministers have been from just 1,200-1,300 political families, irrespective of who has been in the CM’s chair. Just imagine this in a state which has about three crore households,” Kishor stated.
He blamed the “inertia” on the environment that has prevailed “since the 1970s” with “no social or political movement to fire the imagination of the common people”. “Therefore, it is my priority to identify ‘sahi log’ (the right people). Once they are identified and given a platform, a party may come in place. Things like whether the party will be called ‘Jan Suraaj’ and whether Prashant Kishor will be an office-bearer therein may be decided at a later stage,” he added.
Kishor, who’s credited with the spectacular success of Narendra Modi’s marketing campaign in 2014, additionally rubbished ideas that being an higher caste Brahmin put him at a drawback in Bihar the place the politics has been dominated by OBCs, particularly for the reason that Mandal period.”People of Bihar have been ate up myths. I’ve been aware of elections in so many states. Everywhere caste issues as a lot because it does right here. But, society additionally has the capability to rise above caste issues,” he stated.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”
