Prashant Kishor rubbishes Rabri Devi's merger claim

Patna: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor sets the political temperature soaring in Bihar with his invitation to Lalu Yadav for a media interaction over Rabri Devi’s claims that he came to her residence with an offer to merge JD(U) and RJD and declare Nitish Kumar a prime ministerial candidate.

On Saturday Prashant Kishor in a tweet said that he is ready for a media debate with Lalu Yadav in order to clear the air about what transpired during their meeting.

“Those convicted or facing charges of abuse of public office and misappropriation of funds are claiming to be custodians of truth. I am ready for open media debate with him (Lalu Yadav) over the issue. Let people know who came with what kind of offer,” Mr Kishor said in a tweet.

Rabri Devi in her statement on Friday had said that Mr Kishor met Lalu Yadav at least five times earlier with his offer and if he denies, it would be a blatant lie.

“Security personnel and staff deployed at my residence can also tell you how many times he visited my residence to meet Lalu. If he denies now then it would be a big lie. I had asked him to go away because I didn’t like his offerl,” former chief minister Rabri Devi said.

After Mr Kishor’s denial on Saturday, she responded sharply by saying that he visited her 10 Circular road residence with an offer to make Tejashwi Yadav Bihar’s CM in 2020 Assembly elections if our party supported Nitish Kumar as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 general elections.

The RJD also reacted bitterly on the social media platform. “Our party chief has more experience than you. There are many political leaders like you who have come and gone. If you want to discuss your stories you should go to your bosses.”

Senior RJD leader Mohammad Neamtullah in his statement said, “How much does he know about Mr Lalu. He is a mass leader and has more experience than Prashant Kishor”.

Lalu Yadav who is in judicial custody after being convicted in four fodder scam cases had made similar claims about Prashant Kishor’s offer in his autobiography “Gopalganj to Raisina hills”.

These claims were however denied by many NDA leaders earlier including Prashant Kishor. In a tweet last week he had termed Lalu Yadav’s claims as “bogus”.  

Prashant Kishor who has been widely credited for the massive victory of the grand alliance in 2015 Bihar Assembly elections joined the ruling JD(U) as party National Vice President in September last year.

His appointment into the JD(U) had made him the second most powerful leader in the party.

Political analysts are of the opinion that the latest controversy may create problems for the JD(U) in the 2019 general elections.