Patna: Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, on Saturday criticised Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor over the use of a luxurious vanity van during the ongoing BPSC candidates’ protest.
Yadav said that the presence of the van was an attempt to politicise and hijack the students’ movement. The RJD leader claimed that the students themselves were clear from the beginning that their movement should remain non-political.
“Respecting this sentiment, we gave extended moral support to the candidates without overtly politicising the issue. We met with the protesting students at their request and had written to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar twice regarding their grievances,” Yadav said.
He further criticised Prashant Kishor, accusing him of politicising the ongoing BPSC candidates’ movement, and questioning his political affiliations. Yadav pointed out that the Mahagathbandhan MLAs had consistently raised the demands of the students, reiterating their support for the movement.
“The opposition has stood firmly with the students in their fight for justice, but the movement has been hijacked and compromised,” Yadav said. He alleged that the movement has been deliberately crushed, with students being subjected to lathi charges under the pretext of maintaining order.
Without naming Kishor directly, Yadav questioned the motives of those “politicising and crushing” the protest. He also raised suspicions about deals made with the government that have led to the movement’s alleged derailment. Tejashwi brought up Prashant Kishor’s past political role, specifically his appointment as the national vice president of the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U). He accused Kishor of failing to clarify why Union Home Minister Amit Shah supported his appointment to such a senior position in Nitish Kumar’s party.
Yadav pointed out that Nitish Kumar himself had commented on the matter, and questioned the dynamics behind Shah’s endorsement. Drawing a sharp analogy, the RJD leader likened the vanity van controversy to a staged production, stating: “Actors sit in the vanity van, and the one who makes them sit is the producer and director. Everyone knows which producer and director have made the actors sit.”
(IANS)
