Kishanganj (Bihar) [India], September 8 : Jan Suraaj Party Founder Prashant Kishor on Sunday advocated for an alliance between 20 per cent Muslims and Hindus who are "Gandhians, Ambedkarites, communists and socialists."
While addressing a gathering at a Muslim conference in Bihar's Kishanganj, Kishor argued that half of the Hindus don't vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He asserted that Muslims should join hands with them to fight the "long battle".
"In this country, Hindus are 80 per cent, and the BJP got only 40 per cent. This means that half of the Hindus don't vote for the BJP. You people have to recognise who doesn't vote for the BJP. They are Hindus who follow Gandhi, Babasaheb Ambedkar, communism, and socialism. Jan Suraaj believes that if these Hindus and 20 per cent Muslim join hands, we can fight the long battle," Kishor said.
He further criticised AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi over the latter's position that Muslims must fight alone to defeat the BJP. He said that Jan Suraaj believes in fighting together with Hindus who are ideologically motivated to defeat the ruling party in the centre.
"This is the difference between Owaisi sahib and Jan Suraaj. Owaisi is my friend. He wants Muslim to fight alone with the BJP. But I want your support and that of Hindus who are ideologically inclined to ally with you," Kishor said, adding that Mahatma Gandhi's ideology was the only way to defeat the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) ideology.
"I am not asking your vote, but want your support. You want to defeat the BJP, but you don't know where its power lies. It is not Modi, Shah. It is the ideology of RSS. If you want to defeat the BJP, you people have to create an ideological ground. There is only one way, and that is to ground yourself in Gandhi's ideology," he stated.
Addressing the Muslim community, the Jan Suraaj founder said that voting for Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav in the past 30 years didn't help them, as they still experience poverty and lack public representation.
"In this state, after Dalits, Muslims face poverty. There's no development for the Muslim community in 30 years under the Nitish-Lalu rule. According to the population of Muslims in this state, 40 MLAs from the community should be in the assembly. However, only 19 Muslim MLAs are in the assembly," Kishor said.
"It is your mindset that has stopped you from becoming Mukhiya and a ward member. It is your fear, where you were told not to contest elections. You were told to make someone else win the elections in order to protect you. This is why you don't want to contest any election. Just want to follow. You call yourself a minority. You are Muslims. The politicians have made you a minority. This is the environment of fear," he added.
He suggested that the Muslim community understand who their leader is, or else they would remain under the rule of "unjust rulers".
"Since 1989, the BJP has had zero MPs in Bihar, and now they have 35. You people voted for Lalu and not Nitish Kumar, who stopped Narendra Modi from visiting Bihar in 2010. He didn't stop the BJP. In 2014, Nitish Kumar didn't cheat you. But at that time, you people didn't stand with him. Those who won't have understanding about who their leader is will be ruled by unjust rulers," Kishor argued.
Kishor further stated that even though he campaigned for PM Narendra Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he also campaigned for those who defeated the BJP till 2021.
"I am the same Prashant Kishor who campaigned for Narendra Modi in 2014. Given this, if you have doubts about trusting me, you are right. However, you should also know that I have campaigned for those who have defeated the BJP and Modi after 2014. Till 2021, I have campaigned in Bihar (2015), Punjab (2017), Telangana (2018), Andhra Pradesh (2019), Delhi and Maharashtra (2020), and Tamil Nadu and Bengal (2021) for those who defeated the BJP," Kishor said.
The 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 an official date.
While the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, aims to continue its tenure in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, comprising the RJD, Congress, and left parties, seeks to oust Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131, with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2.