Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has triggered a political row in Bihar after saying that if criminals have to be shot dead, there is no bigger criminal than Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. The ruling BJP on Friday shot back, accusing Kishor of using threatening language against the Chief Minister and demanded a public apology.
The controversy erupted after a video of Kishor's remarks, purportedly made during a programme on October 10 while campaigning for the Bihar MLC elections, went viral on social media.
"If shooting criminals dead is the only way out, then I would like to point out that there is no greater criminal than Samrat Choudhary," Kishor was heard saying in the video.
Kishor made the remarks while criticising what he described as an "encounter raj" in Bihar since Chaudhary became Chief Minister earlier this year. Chaudhary has been advocating strict action against criminals, with the police being given a free hand to carry out encounters when necessary, according to the provided account.
The Jan Suraaj founder also questioned Chaudhary's educational qualifications and alleged criminal antecedents. Kishor has repeatedly used terms such as "uneducated criminal" to target the BJP leader, pointing to alleged discrepancies in his election affidavits concerning his educational qualifications and criminal antecedents.
He also criticised an alleged statement attributed to Chaudhary about shooting people after asking their caste or seeing them wearing a green scarf.
BJP DEMANDS KISHOR'S APOLOGY
The BJP strongly condemned Kishor's remarks, accusing him of using language that suggested violence against the Chief Minister. The party demanded that the former poll strategist publicly apologise for his statement.
Bihar BJP president Prem Ranjan Patel slammed Kishor and urged him to observe democratic propriety. In a statement, Patel said political differences in a democracy did not justify the use of language that suggested violence or threats.
"Prashant Kishor ought to realise that in a democracy, you cannot use language that reeks of violence and threats. He must publicly apologise for having made such remarks," Patel said.
Bihar BJP general secretary Preeti Shekhar also targeted Kishor, accusing him of "gundagardi" (rowdyism). She said the language used against the Chief Minister should not be tolerated and urged Kishor to exercise restraint in his remarks.
Shekhar also asserted that Chaudhary had been unanimously chosen as Chief Minister by NDA legislators, maintaining that Kishor's opposition would have no impact on the decision.
The BJP’s response came amid the political confrontation over Kishor's remarks targeting Chaudhary and his criticism of the state government's approach towards dealing with criminals.
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