Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor on Thursday launched a sharp attack at Rahul Gandhi, accusing the Congress leader of mocking Biharis while sitting in Delhi and dared him to spend a night in a village in Bihar.
The remark comes as the political heat intensifies in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls in the state, scheduled later this year.
"Rahul ji keeps coming and going from Bihar, but doesn't really undertake any Yatra. If Rahul Gandhi has ever spent even one night in a village in Bihar, then tell me. If he can spend just one night in a village, we'll accept it," Rahul Gandhi told news agency ANI in an interview.
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"You sit in Delhi and laugh at Biharis. Then you come here to lecture us," he said.
Kishor also hit out at Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy for his remarks about the migrants from Bihar, demanding an apology and slamming Congress for what he described as years of neglect and disrespect toward the people of Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}Kishor also hit out at Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy for his remarks about the migrants from Bihar, demanding an apology and slamming Congress for what he described as years of neglect and disrespect toward the people of Bihar.
{{/usCountry}}"In Telangana, their chief minister is Revanth Reddy. It's been two years since he became CM. Before that, he was in the TDP, and before that, he was in the RSS and the BJP. After becoming Chief Minister, he officially stated that doing labour is in the DNA of Biharis. Biharis are born to work as labourers," the Jan Suraaj chief said.
"Why did he say this? Because most of his rival KCR's officers had a Bihar background. So he was implying that Telangana is in a bad state because Biharis are running it," Kishor added.
He further attacked the Congress government, saying former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi announced a ₹50,000 crore package for Bihar in 1989 and said he would make Bihar a development hub, but the funds were never allotted.
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"Where did that money go? Congress remained in power afterwards, so tell us, what did you do for Bihar?" he asked.
'Caste one factor, but not the only factor'
Prashant Kishor also said that caste is not the only factor in the Bihar elections and cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's success in the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar as an example.
"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," the former political strategist said.
"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 added.