Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has clarified that his meeting with Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary was based on social etiquette and does not indicate any shift in his political position or a change in his critical stance.
Patna (Bihar) [India], November 13 (ANI): Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday clarified that his meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary at a shraddha ceremony was based on social and political etiquette, asserting that the interaction did not indicate any change in his political position or criticism of the Chief Minister. Speaking to reporters, Kishor said the interaction took place at a shraddha ceremony that both he and Choudhary attended, adding that Bihar’s culture encouraged people to maintain social and political courtesy irrespective of their political differences.
“It was a meeting based on social and political etiquette. I was attending a shraddha ceremony, where he also happened to be present. This is part of Bihar’s culture; our culture teaches us to observe social and political etiquette when meeting others. My meeting with Samrat Choudhary, the one who failed the seventh grade, doesn’t mean he’s suddenly earned a PhD! If there are criminal allegations against him, or if I have previously labelled him a criminal, that doesn’t mean I’ll start calling him a saint or a sage just because we met yesterday. Please don’t harbour any such misconceptions,” Kishor said.
He further said his political differences with leaders, including Chief Minister Choudhary, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, should not be seen as personal conflicts, reiterating that his political struggle was aimed at the reform of Bihar. “I said the same thing regarding Nitish ji. I have worked with Nitish ji, and I have also opposed him, but I have no personal conflict with him. I have no personal conflict with Lalu ji either—or with anyone else, for that matter. The struggle is for the reform of Bihar; it is not directed against any single individual, caste, social class, or political party. My politics are focused on the reform of Bihar,” he added.
The clarification comes a day after Kishor and Choudhary exchanged greetings and shook hands at the shraddha ceremony of former Rajya Sabha MP and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravindra Kishore Sinha in Patna on Thursday. The two were also seen sitting together and interacting briefly at the gathering. (ANI)