With JD(U)-RJD alliance, Prashant Kishor hopes political stability returns to Bihar

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday claimed that the new government in Bihar, Mahagathbandhan 2.0 will not create major ripples at the national level and that the alliance was not done with a larger idea of a "national alternate opposition".

Kishor, once considered a close confidant of Kumar, said the impact of the political developments in Bihar will remain limited to the state at present.

"I believe the latest political developments in Bihar are specific to the state. I don't think this is done with the thought of creating an alternate opposition on a national level in the country," Kishor told ANI.

"Tejashwi Yadav is the leader of the single largest party in Bihar, and probably he will play a major role in running this new formation. The people will be able to see how he functions in this new government," he said.

On reports that Kumar harbours prime ministerial ambitions, Kishor insisted the developments were strictly “Bihar-centric”. He said Bihar has seen six experiments in government formation since 2012-13 and Nitish Kumar has been a constant as the chief minister.

“Since 2012-13, this is the sixth experiment as far as government formation is concerned. In all these six experiments, Nitish Kumar has remained the Chief Minister. And there has been no change in the situation in Bihar. I hope that the new government will do something good,” Kishor told Republic TV.

Kishor told News18 that it will have to be seen whether the new government performs or not as the RJD and JD(U) have contradicting stances on a number of issues, including corruption.

Kishor said that Nitish Kumar was not comfortable in the alliance with the BJP and that is why he moved from one political formation to the other. “From 2017 to 2022, he was with the BJP. But I never found him comfortable because of many reasons. He may have thought that let us experiment with Mahagatbandhan,” Kishor told television news channels in Patna.

He added that people of Bihar expect that this new formation will last. "The government's priorities should be in sync with people's aspirations. What needs to be seen is whether or not the new government will function better than the previous government," Kishor added, hoping that political stability returns to Bihar now.

(With inputs from PTI)