Prashant Kishor says JSP won’t field Muslim candidates against RJD’s, challenges party to reciprocate

Gaya: Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday said his party would not field Muslim candidates in constituencies where the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has already put up a candidate from the minority community, and urged Tejashwi Yadav’s party to adopt the same approach.

Responding to a query in Gaya about the division of Muslim votes, Kishor said: “If RJD is so concerned about Muslims, they should declare they would not field Muslim candidates in seats where we field Muslims. I unilaterally announced that JSP would not field Muslim candidates against RJD’s Muslim candidates. If RJD really wants to defeat BJP, let them do so.”

The JSP has earlier stated that it intends to field Muslim and extremely backward class (EBC) candidates in proportion to their share in Bihar’s population. Muslims make up about 17 per cent of the state’s population, with significant concentrations in Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar and Purnia, and sizeable numbers in districts including Darbhanga, Madhubani, Rohtas, Nalanda, Patna, Munger and Bhagalpur. EBCs account for around 36 per cent of the population, including 10.5 per cent from the Muslim community.

An RJD spokesperson dismissed Kishor’s remarks, saying: “Our top leadership does not give much importance to a party that tries to get attention on one pretext or another.” Tejashwi Yadav recently commented that there had been “too much discussions about a party which does not have an MP or an MLA.”

Kishor, who had appeared to lose momentum amid the RJD-Congress combine’s Voter Adhikar Yatra, has been making renewed efforts to stay in the spotlight ahead of the upcoming elections.