Prashant Kishor, political strategist-turned-activist, said on Tuesday that the Opposition unity drive would be fruitful only if it works on a “narrative”, and does not rely on “arithmetic”.
Speaking to journalists in Bihar’s Samastipur district, Kishor dismissed the significance of the split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra and the CBI chargesheet against Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister, Tejashwi Yadav.
“A combined opposition can work only if it succeeds in creating a narrative against the regime. The Janata Party experiment came on the back of the Emergency and Jayaprakash Narayan’s mass movement. During VP Singh’s rule, the Bofors scandal had caught public imagination,” Prashant stated.
The IPAC founder said, “Mere political arithmetic, devoid of a rational narrative, is unlikely to strike a chord with people.” Kishor, who has given up political consultancy, recently resumed his “Jan Suraaj” campaign in Bihar after recovering from a ligament injury,
On a question on the developments in Maharashtra, Kishor said, “It is for the people of that state to decide whether what has happened is appropriate or not. But normally a party does not lose its support base just because of some MLAs jumping ship. I don’t see any serious impact on NCP.”
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Dismissing media speculation about Bihar Chief Minister’s concerns over a similar fate befalling his own Janata Dal (United) party, Kishor expressed confidence in the resilience of politicians to be swayed by breaking news cycles.
“Politicians are far too hard nosed to be swept away by the cycle of breaking news. Maharashtra’s development will have no impact outside that state, just like the upheaval in Bihar last year did not affect politics elsewhere”.
Kishor, however, added, “I repeat that the Mahagathbandhan will not retain its current composition by the time the state faces its next assembly polls. Former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s exit points in that direction. But any major shift is unlikely before Lok Sabha elections.”
Commenting on the fresh CBI chargesheet against Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, Kishor acknowledged that, “People do not resent any politician facing legal action for alleged wrongdoing. But it is becoming a matter of concern to them that only those in the opposition are caught and those who make peace with the ruling dispensation are let off”.
He then added, “It is wrong to believe that a crackdown by an investigating agency will help a leader reap political dividends by playing the victim card. Such attempts do not find traction with people”.