Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on Saturday lashed out at Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi for charging the newly formed political party with bribing voters in by-elections to four assembly seats of Bihar.
Mr Manjhi, who is also a former Chief Minister of Bihar, had made the allegation on Friday evening, at a rally in Imamganj which has fallen vacant upon his election to Lok Sabha and from where his daughter-in-law Deepa is trying her luck as the candidate of his Hindustani Awam Morcha.
“The Jan Suraaj people are making people sign forms pledging support for the party in the by-polls. The voters have been promised cash reward of Rs one lakh each in the event of Jan Suraaj candidate’s victory”, Mr Manjhi had said.
When asked about the charge, Prashant Kishor, who was on the campaign trail in Tarari, shot back “Does Manjhi realise what he is saying? In almost every assembly segment, there are about two lakh voters. If we are promising to give Rs one lakh to each of them, you can do the math and figure out the total sum involved”.
Prashant Kishor added “if Manjhi is convinced that we are sitting on such a huge pile of money, then, being a Union minister, he should get the ED and the CBI unleashed after us. He should also draw the attention of the Election Commission”.
The political strategist turned activist claimed the 80 years old had suffered “a loss of mental balance” on account of the realisation that “the real fight in Imamganj is between RJD and Jan Suraaj”.
“For Manjhi, politics has been all about his family. But in the very constituency which he believes to be his stronghold, his own daughter-in-law is struggling to be one of the main contenders”, claimed Prashant Kishor.
The IPAC founder, who claims to have given up on political consultancy for good, floated the new party earlier this month, vowing to win the Bihar assembly polls next year on its own steam.
The party is also contesting the by-polls to all four assembly seats – Imamganj, Tarari, Belaganj and Ramgarh – which have been necessitated by election of respective MLAs to Lok Sabha.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)