Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor challenged the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) that if the party claims to be the leader of Muslims, then instead of using them as ‘vote bank,’ they should give tickets to the people from the cmmunity according to their population.
"If rights are to be given based on the population, then Muslims should contest elections on at least 40 Vidhan Sabha seats. The people of RJD are claiming to be the well-wishers of Muslims. ," Kishor told reporters on Sunday.
“I challenged them that if the Muslim votes were divided if the Jan Suraaj Party contested the elections, then wherever you would launch a Muslim candidate, we would launch a Hindu candidate there. Stop snatching their rights and give them tickets as per the population. You have taken the votes of them,” he further added.
Kishor further pointed out that in the current assembly, there were "only 19 Muslim members, even though the community comprised about 20 per cent of the state's total population.
"So much for the secular credentials of RJD, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and the Congress," said the former strategist who has, in the past, rendered his services to all these parties.
The activist-turned-polititian also assured his Jan Suraaj will field a significant number of Muslim candidates in the Bihar assembly polls due next year.
The IPAC founder, however, rejected the charge that he was trying to "split" votes of the minority community and hit the RJD, the BJP's principal opponent in the state.
"We tend to give tickets to at least 40 Muslims in elections to the 243-strong assembly. The community will also have a fair share of representation in the organization's leadership," Kishor added.
Kishore further exuded confidence of winning the assembly elections in Bihar in 2025. "In 2025, the Chief Minister of Jan Suraaj will take the oath, and the government of Jan Suraaj will be in power. There is no, if and but," he added.
When asked whether it would be a trilateral contest, he said the main contest in the assembly election would be between Jan Suraaj and the NDA. "According to the Lok Sabha numbers, he said, the NDA is ahead in 176 of 243 assembly seats in Bihar. RJD is nowhere," he added.
The assembly elections in Bihar are likely to be held in October-November 2025.
(With inputs from agencies)
