Kishor fumes at Bihar CM's 'bechara' remark, calls him 'uneducated criminal'

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor launched a fresh attack on Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, calling him an "uneducated criminal" who could not be entrusted with governing the state.

Kishor made the remark on Thursday in the north Bihar district of Saharsa, where journalists drew his attention to Choudhary's recent interview in which the CM had used the word "bechara" (poor guy) for the Bankipur MLA.

The former poll strategist mockingly said, "Samrat Choudhary is right in calling me a 'bechara' because I am left with no other option but to fight to rid Bihar of an uneducated criminal like him".

Notably, Kishor has been using adjectives like "anpadh" (uneducated) and "apradhi" (criminal) for Choudhary for a long time before the latter was handpicked by the BJP's top leadership as the party's first chief minister of Bihar.

In the run-up to the bypoll to Bankipur, which took place after BJP national president Nitin Nabin gave up the seat, Kishor had urged people to vote for him since his victory "would make Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah take note of the popular discontent with Samrat Choudhary".

Replying to another query, Kishor said that floods have been a recurring problem in Bihar for 80 years.

"This Kosi region is the worst hit. During my extensive tour of the area, I have come across families which get displaced two to three times in a year because of floods," he said.

Kishore alleged that the political establishment does "not work towards finding a solution because floods bring the opportunity for massive corruption".

"This is a reason why the Water Resources Department has been a coveted portfolio. Unlike a PWD minister, who may face flak for a poor-quality road, the minister for water resources can easily escape scrutiny for commissioning an embankment that gets swept away in a year," Kishor claimed.

The Jan Suraaj Party founder also reiterated his opposition to the state's prohibition law, calling it bogus (farzi), and warned, "We have heard about 'Udta Punjab' because of the drug abuse there. Unless this useless law is done away with, we may witness Udta Bihar as well."