Suraaj Party Chief Prashant Kishor Accuses Bihar CM Of Misusing Govt Machinery In Bankipur By-Poll, Contrasts Him With Nitish

Patna: A day before the counting of votes for the Bankipur by-poll, Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder and party candidate Prashant Kishor on Sunday said that unlike his predecessor Nitish Kumar who never misused government machinery to win an  election in 20 years, chief minister Samrat Choudhary, along with the BJP and local police administration orchestrated systemic electoral malpractice in the by-election.

 Addressing a press conference, Kishor claimed he would emerge victorious in the electoral fray, thus forcing the present CM to quit his post. He also once again questioned the role of the administration in the Bankipur by-election. He said that the Patna SSP arrested his party`s local leaders at the behest of BJP, and demanded action against him, as DGP also assured taht he would be kept away from the counting process.

Jan Suraaj founder alleged that the police, acting at the behest of the ruling party,  detained his supporters and polling agents without reason. Kishor also had a heated argument near Golghar with City Superintendent of Police (Central) Mamta Kalyani.

Earlier, he had alleged that from Tuesday evening until late at night, police detained more than 20 Jan Suraaj leaders and workers. He claimed that the police neither formally recorded their detention nor explained the charges on which they were being detained. He claimed that the detained leaders were first kept at different police stations and later taken to Danapur. When the media and party members learned about this, they were shifted again to Shahpur police station.

Kishor said that if anyone had violated the law, a case should be registered against them, but keeping leaders in custody without any clear charges was against the democratic process. He alleged that police were functioning like a political party and were trying to keep Jan Suraaj workers away from election activities to help  BJP and the state government. At least 10 of those detained were residents of Patna and were picked up from their homes at night, he added.

Votes  for the Bankipur  by-election were cast last Thursday. A total voter turnout of 34.30 percent was recorded in the by-election. The by-election was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat following his election to Rajya Sabha. The main contest is among BJP`s Neeraj Kumar Sinha, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, and Congress-backed RJD candidate Rekha Gupta.