Prashant Kishor mocks Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Bihar roads

Patna, Jun 23: 'Jan Suraaj’ campaign convenor Prashant Kishor on Thursday sought to puncture his former mentor Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's claims of having given a face-lift to the state's roads. Kishor, who is touring the state as a spade-work for a full-time launch into politics, shared on his Twitter handle an image of a national highway passing through Madhuri district which reminded him of the "jungle raj of the 1990s".

"Nitish ji had recently told officials of road construction department that they must tell the people about the condition of roads in the state", Kishor tweeted. "Jungle raj of 1990s" was a reference to the husband-wife duo Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi who together ruled Bihar for 15 years until the defeat of their RJD by the NDA headed by Kumar in 2005.

Lawlessness and the abysmal state of roads were the two primary counts on which the RJD faced criticism. Kishor, who had helped Lalu-Nitish alliance clinch a victory in the 2015 assembly polls and formally joined the JD(U), then headed by Kumar, as his number two a couple of years later, now feels that the two leaders have let the state down.

Having given up his career which gave him the opportunity to rub shoulders with the who's who of Indian politics, Kishor has now come out with the promise of transformational, bottom-up politics in his home state.

PTI