Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday put paid to speculation of him floating a new political platform stating that he is set to embark on a 3,000 km “padyatra” that will start from Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Bihar’s Champaran on 2 October.
He said he will launch a “Jan Surraj” (Good Governance) campaign in the next three to four months into which he will rope in eminent personalities of Bihar who want to bring about a positive change in the state. Prashant Kishor, popularly referred to as PK, said that there are no elections in Bihar in the near future and so he is not launching a political party for now. However, he did not comment on future plans on his own political platform.
“It is being speculated that I will form a new political party, I will not make any such announcement today. My role in the coming days will be to meet the people who are connected to the social and political life of Bihar and who understand Bihar’s problems and bring all of them together on one platform. We have identified and contacted nearly 17,500 people in the past four to five months,” Kishor said.
He added: “If we will decide in future that we need to make a political party then it won’t be Prashant Kishor’s party. It will be a people’s party”. “If a large number of people come together on one platform, and collectively decide on the need for a political party, then the announcement of that party would be made. Even if that party is formed, then it will not be
Prashant Kishor’s party, but every such person’s party who wants to accompany in the formation of the political party. This work should be completed by August or September,” the poll strategist said.
“In the coming three to four months, I will meet most of these people personally and discuss the methods to implement the idea of Jan Suraaj (good governance). My experience says that nearly 90 per cent of people agree that there is a need for a collective new effort,” he further added. Kishor, had recently turned down an offer to join the Congress stating that the grand old party was in need of leadership. On May 2 he had posted a cryptic tweet on his timeline in which he said, “My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy and help shape pro-people policy led to a 10-year rollercoaster ride! As I turn the page, time to go to the Real Masters”.