‘Physically tired, mentally unfit’: Prashant Kishor’s stinging attack on Nitish Kumar ahead of Bihar polls

In a scathing attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Sunday called for his resignation, saying he was “physically tired and mentally unfit”.

"Nitish Kumar is physically tired and mentally unfit. If you want evidence for this, just ask him to name the Ministers in his Council. Nitish Kumar should resign,” Kishor said. 

Kishor, a former aide of Kumar, made the remarks while addressing a press conference in Samastipur. The Jan Suraaj Party is keen to make inroads in Bihar where assembly elections are due later this year.

"The first person to comment on Nitish Kumar's health was his ally, Sushil Kumar Modi... Since then, many Bihar Ministers have commented on his health. I never made a comment on it till January,” Kishor was quoted by news agency ANI. 

“But during the BPSC protests, I learned that Nitish Kumar's mental condition has deteriorated so much that he has no clue what's going on in the state." 

Kishor, who worked as an election strategist with different political parties in the past, had also served as the former national vice president of JD(U) and was expelled following a public disagreement with Kumar over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

He contented that the BJP, an ally of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), might be aware that Kumar is mentally unfit.

"The BJP deserves equal blame because it's not possible that the Prime Minister or Home Minister are not aware that Nitish Kumar is mentally unfit," he said.

On Thursday, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, too, had taken to X questioning the mental stability of the chief minister.

“Let me remind you that you are the Chief Minister of a big state. You are not mentally and physically stable even for a few seconds and your being in this position in such an unconscious state is a matter of great concern for the state. Do not insult Bihar like this again and again," Yadav wrote on X.