Prashant Kishor is trying to break JDU-BJP coalition and it’s a good thing for the BJP

Prashant Kishor has been in the news awfully lot more than he deserves, courtesy his desperation to undermine the BJP and to be distinguished as a big impediment in the implementation of the saffron party’s core agenda. From his strong opposition to the CAA to his silly anger against NRC, Kishor is serving as a one-man opposition to the BJP, while being its ally.

It is now more than evident that Kishor is attempting to break the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar. He might have expected his statements against the Modi government’s policy decisions enough a reason for the saffron party to break ties with the JD(U), however, that did not happen. As a result, Kishor is going ballistic now. In a ridiculously confident proposition, Kishor has hinted that the BJP would have to contest on a lesser number of seats in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections. According to him, the JD(U) being a ‘bigger party’ in Bihar, deserves more seats in next year’s election and said that the current seat-sharing formula of 50-50 cannot be repeated. “If we look at the 2010 assembly polls, which the JD(U) and the BJP had last contested together, the ratio was 1:1.4. Even if there is a slight change this time, it cannot be that both parties fight an equal number of seats,” Kishor told news agency PTI on Sunday.

These statements will surely not be welcomed by the BJP’s top leadership, especially when they are coming from a political opportunist like Prashant Kishor. The seat-sharing of two allies is usually considered the business to be handled by their respective top leadership. For a nominal ‘leader’ like Kishor to pass unadulterated statements such as these indicate his ulterior motives to cause discontent between the two parties and ultimately result in a breakup.

The fight on the part of Kishor seems to be rather a personal one against PM Modi. An election strategist for the BJP in 2014, Kishor perhaps felt sidelined by the immensity of PM Modi’s popularity. What sense does it otherwise make for a mediocre political strategist to go on an all-out war against the BJP, to the extent that he is trying to create a nationwide anti-BJP front in the name of opposition to NRC?

Moreover, he has also said that the non-Congress states have the Chief Ministers as the party heads, therefore hinting at them too for taking a stand against NRC. “More than 10 Chief Ministers, including the ones in the Congress, have said that they will not allow NRC in their states. In other regional parties like those led by Nitish Kumar, Naveen Babu, Mamata didi or Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Ministers are serving as the head of the parties…”. 

The prospects of an imminent BJP-JD(U) breakup seem high, and if that is not the case, the BJP must make sure that they spend no more time with an opportunistic and disloyal party like the JD(U). If a breakup is what Kishor wants, a breakup is what he should get. 

The very fact that he has claimed that the BJP will have to fight on a lesser number of seats should ring alarm bells within the saffron party. It is anybody’s guess that the BJP has a huge footprint in Bihar and that it is very well equipped to perform well even on its own. It may not retain power in the immediate future, but fighting the upcoming elections will hugely consolidate and solidify the party’s position in Bihar in the long run. Continuing with the JD(U) would inhibit the saffron party’s growth forever. They cannot bank on Nitish Kumar for retaining power in the state, because for all we know from Maharashtra, there are no predispositions in politics. Nitish will go to anybody who will make him the Chief Minister. The BJP must rise above this petty power politics and play the long game in Bihar. Who knows, they might very well get a majority in Bihar on their own next year if they decide to stand up against Nitish and take advantage of the undercurrent against him.