Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor is confident his party may win more than 150 seats, but at the same time, he put in a rider saying that if his party is swept off, it may win only 10 seats.
Replying to questions at the India TV Chunav Manch daylong conclave here, Prashant Kishor, a former poll strategist, said, "This is not a range of 10 to 150, but you can call them two scenarios — Arsh (sky) par ya farsh (ground) par."
Prashant Kishor said, "On November 14, when Bihar results will be declared, a new history will be written and Jan Suraaj Party will win more than 150 seats."
The former strategist said, "To win Bihar, Laluji is required, not Nitish Kumar. Because people win elections in Bihar either because of Lalu or because of the bogey of Lalu (Lalu ka dar). Lalu factor — not as a person, but a phenomenon... Nitish gets votes only because people fear Lalu. So, the Lalu phenomenon has a big role in forming a government in Bihar."
Asked if, in a scenario where Jan Suraaj Party wins 10 seats, how many seats other parties will win, Prashant Kishor replied: "BJP will get fewer seats compared to last time. I cannot say about Congress — it is a 'pichhlaggoo' party since no one knows how many seats it is contesting. RJD will remain within the 25–40 range, because the 30–35 seats that it won last time, because of Chirag Paswan, will not happen this time. JD-U will get less than 25 seats."
Asked whether the BJP can emerge as the single largest party if Jan Suraaj Party gets only 10 seats, Prashant Kishor replied: "Bilkul."
On Amit Shah
In the rapid-fire round of the interview, when asked to say in brief about Home Minister Amit Shah, Prashant Kishor said, "His strength is he is a very capable leader (maahir neta), but he lacks credibility among the public. He told people in Bihar that the doors of NDA are closed to Nitish Kumar forever, and then he praises him. If Nitish Kumar is a Paltu Ram, then Amit Shah is also an equally big Paltu Ram. He turns around 180 degrees."
On Modi
On Narendra Modi, Prashant Kishor said, "His plus point is that he is the Prime Minister, and his negative point is that he is not benevolent. A king should be benevolent and kind when he is in power."
On Rahul
Asked about Rahul Gandhi, Prashant Kishor said, "Rahul's only plus point is that his surname is Gandhi. His minus point is that his party has no existence in Bihar; it is a 'pichhlaggoo' of RJD."
On Nitish
About Nitish Kumar, he said, "His plus point is he does politics from a position of weakness like Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Narasimha Rao did, wherein they do not appear to be strong but do their politics from a position of weakness. His minus point is, over the years, he has this lust (moh) for kursi despite growing old and keeping all political and social values at bay — his only aim is to hold on to his kursi."
