As the Bihar Assembly elections approach, political tensions escalated on Thursday after BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya shared a video of Jan Suraj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor making remarks widely interpreted as derogatory toward the Dalit community.
In the interview, Kishor stated: “We speak with proof. So wait. You are trying to scare us with a hundred crores. A BJP leader said that he will not rest until he sends me to jail. Even if you take seven lives, you cannot send me to jail. We are not thieves. We are fighting for Bihar, we are fighting for this land. Is this an affirmation or confidence? It is not an affirmation. It is a responsibility.”
Malviya condemned Kishor, saying: “Are we going to engage in theft and deceit? Prashant Kishor of Jan Suraj is openly insulting the Chamar community from a public platform. Why such hatred towards the Dalit community? Can Bihar's development happen by demeaning an entire community?”
He further warned that if alliances like Congress, RJD, and Jan Suraj return to power, a large section of society could once again face humiliation, evoking memories of alleged atrocities during the RJD’s “jungle raj.”
The political heat comes amid intense pre-election campaigns, seat-sharing disputes, and debates over the Election Commission’s recent revisions of the electoral rolls, which the Congress-RJD alliance claims are attempts at voter disenfranchisement.
With voter loyalties among OBCs and Dalits shifting, and questions around Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s popularity, both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc are intensifying efforts
