Nitish Kumar-Prashant Kishor meeting sparks reunion buzz

The meeting between Kumar and Kishor comes in the backdrop of a bitter exchange of words between the two, particularly after the chief minister switched over to the Grand Alliance in Bihar.

A meeting between Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and election strategist Prashant Kishor in Patna late Tuesday night has the political circles abuzz with speculation of a possible reunion between the two.

Political strategist Prashant Kishor and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

On Monday, Kumar had met former diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma, who is said to be instrumental in organising the former’s meeting with Kishor.

While the election strategist, who is in Bettiah as part of his statewide outreach programme under the aegis of Jan Suraj Abhiyan, wasn’t immediately available for comment, CM Kumar confirmed having met Kishor.

“Unhi se malum kijyiye. Koi khas baat nahi hui (Ask him about the meeting. The talks were general in nature),” Kumar said, when asked on Wednesday about his meeting with Kishor.

In 2020, both Varma and Kishor were expelled from CM Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United), in which they held top offices.

Varma had later joined Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress but quit the party recently.

The meeting between Kumar and Kishor comes in the backdrop of a bitter exchange of words between the two, particularly after the chief minister switched over to the Grand Alliance in Bihar.

“I am not angry. I was just replying to reporters’ query on Prashant Kishor. The talks were very normal. There is nothing like he (Kishor) assisting us,” Kumar said when asked about Kishor’s and Pavan Varma’s future role.

A few days back, Kumar, during his trip to Delhi to meet opposition leaders, had said Kishor does not know “ABC of politics” and governance.

Kishor had responded in kind.

“Nitish Kumar must be the only educated person around to have said people like me do not know ABC. He knows from A to Z. He should share the knowledge with NITI Aayog, which keeps counting Bihar among the least-developed states,” he said. “Age is catching up with him. If he has divined that I want to help the BJP, it is his intellectual greatness,” he told reporters in Patna recently.

PK’s importance to Nitish

In 2015, “Bihar mein bahar ho...Nitish Kumar ho”, the slogan coined as part of Nitish Kumar’s election campaign by Kishor, became a folk song in Bihar. In the assembly polls the same year, Kumar’s JD(U) and Lalu Prasad’s RJD, which fought the polls in alliance that also had Congress, won a landslide. Kishor is said to have played a key role in brining together old friends-turned-foes Kumar and Prasad.

After parting ways with BJP, Kumar, who is trying to unite the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, needs a strategist to enhance his image at the national level and Kishor can fulfil that need. Not only this, Prashant Kishor also has good relations with regional satraps and Nitish Kumar can capitalize on this through him.