Patna (Bihar) [India], June 26 : Ahead of the upcoming Assembly Elections in Bihar, Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor said that caste is not the only factor in the Bihar polls.
In an interview with ANI, replying to the question of caste politics in Bihar, Prashant Kishor cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's success in the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar as an example, arguing that caste is not the only poll plank.
The Jan Suraaj Party chief said, "In Bihar, for the past 15 years, the BJP has been getting a lot of success in the Lok Sabha elections. Most people believe that the BJP is not getting success, it is voting in the name of PM Modi."
"You said that every person in Bihar votes on caste based politics. And in Bihar, you are saying that a vote is being made in the name of Modi. So, tell us how many people live in Bihar who belong to Modi's caste? And if they don't live, then how did they vote for Modi? If every person is voting on caste, then tell us who voted for PM Modi in Bihar? Because there is no one from Modi's caste in Bihar," he told ANI.
Kishor added, "This means that people have voted in the name of PM Modi, apart from their caste. Whether they do it in the name of Hinduism, for Hindu-Muslims, for Ram Mandir, for development or nationalism, it is a different issue. But they are not doing it in the name of caste."
Taking former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's example, he said that there is an M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) classification in Bihar, where even the Muslims vote for Lalu Yadav even though they do not belong to his caste.
Kishor told ANI, "Look at Lalu. People say that in Bihar, there is an M-Y classification. So Y is his caste is M-Muslim. 18% are Muslims. He (a Muslim voter) is not of Lalu's caste. Why does he vote for Lalu? He doesn't vote because he is of a caste, but because he can't vote for the BJP. He votes for Lalu out of fear. So, caste is one factor. But caste is not the only factor."
Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not yet announced the dates.
While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Prashant Kishor has presented his party, Jan Suraaj, as another alternative in the state. He announced that the party would contest in 243 seats.