BHAGALPUR: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor charged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with having "touched the feet" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure his own continuance in power.
Kishor, who has been running the 'Jan Suraaj' campaign, was addressing a public meeting in Bhagalpur on Friday.
"People ask me why I am now criticising Nitish Kumar, having worked with him in the past. He was a different man back then. His conscience had not been put up for sale," said Kishor, who had managed the JD (U) president's election campaign in 2015 and formally joined the party two years later.
"The leader of a state is the pride of its people. But Nitish Kumar brought shame to Bihar when he touched the feet of Modi," he alleged, referring to the NDA meeting in Delhi last week.
Kumar's JD (U) won 12 seats in Lok Sabha polls to emerge as the second largest ally of the BJP, which failed to get a majority on its own.
"There is so much talk about Nitish Kumar playing a key role in Modi's return to power. But how is the Bihar CM leveraging his position? He is not using his clout to ensure benefits for the state. He is touching feet to ensure that he remains in power, with BJP support, even after 2025 assembly polls," Kishor said.
Notably, Kishor had first shot into fame in 2014 for handling the spectacularly successful Lok Sabha poll campaign of Modi.
By the time he gave up political consultancy in 2021, Kishor had worked for several high-profile politicians, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Jagan Mohan Reddy.