Bihar polls: Prashant Kishor backs rebel BJP candidate in Gopalganj

Gopalganj: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday announced his support for rebel BJP candidate Anup Kumar Srivastava in Bihar's Gopalganj, alleging that his own nominee Shashi Shekhar Sinha withdrew from the contest under pressure from the saffron party.

Kishor made the announcement at a press conference in Gopalganj, making it clear that the case of Srivastava was an "exception" to the rule followed by his one-year-old party, which did not give tickets to disgruntled elements from other parties who joined the Jan Suraaj Party just ahead of elections. Srivastava is contesting as an Independent candidate.

"Srivastava, who is a well-known social worker in Gopalganj, has also served as the district BJP president. He alleges that the party overlooked his claim to field a person with deep pockets", Kishor said.

"So, in this constituency, both he and Jan Suraaj Party are victims of BJP's injustice. Sinha withdrew from the contest, citing old age and ill health. He seems to have realised after campaigning for a few days that at 76 years, he did not have the energy to contest an election. I have learnt from credible sources that he withdrew under pressure from the BJP", Kishor alleged.

Notably, the Jan Suraaj Party had recently submitted a representation before the Election Commission, accusing the BJP of putting pressure on its candidates to withdraw from elections.

Kishor has also been displaying photographs of the party's Danapur candidate Mutru Sah with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Brahmapur nominee Satya Prakash Tiwari with BJP's in-charge for the ongoing elections, Dharmendra Pradhan, to allege that top leadership was involved in the poaching of his candidates.

Kishor acknowledged that with the nomination process over, “we cannot allot the Jan Suraaj Party symbol to Srivastava. But, henceforth, he shall be part of the Jan Suraaj family, and our full support will be to him, despite his being an Independent candidate. We want to give the BJP a taste of its own medicine."