Pappu Yadav Alleges Prashant Kishor-Amit Shah Alliance in Bihar Politics at NDTV's Power Play

Independent MP Pappu Yadav at NDTV's Bihar Power Play

Patna:

In a scathing attack on poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, Independent MP Rajesh Ranjan, also known as Pappu Yadav, claimed that the Jan Suraaj Party leader exploited Bihar and maintains a secret alliance with BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah. He expressed these views while speaking to senior journalists Ankit Tyagi and Sucherita Kukreti at NDTV's Bihar Power Play conclave in Patna.

"A person who had to flee from everywhere came to Bihar, called Nitish Kumar his foster father and promised to stay, then escaped to (Jagan Mohan) Reddy, then to Mamata (Banerjee)," he remarked, criticizing Kishor. "When Prashant ji claimed Amit Shah is threatening my candidates, this isn't intimidation; it's an understanding. It's friendship," he added.

Challenging Kishor's assertion that he earned through consultancy, Yadav alleged that the company supposedly paying him failed to document this in its balance sheet. "So who actually provided his funding?"

Yadav alleged that Kishor accumulated approximately Rs 650 crore during this election and accused him of exploiting Bihar. "I detest individuals who take money from ordinary citizens." He also described Kishor as an "impersonator," saying, "Sometimes you claim you won't become Chief Minister, sometimes you say you won't become MLA, sometimes you promise to bring change."

Earlier, Yadav created controversy by stating that Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is the face of the upcoming Bihar election. This statement was interpreted as a slight toward Tejashwi Yadav, who has been designated as the Chief Minister candidate of the Opposition's Mahagathbandhan alliance.

Pappu Yadav showed irritation when confronted about repeatedly attempting to shift the conversation toward Rahul Gandhi instead of Tejashwi Yadav. "Why do you keep questioning me about Tejashwi Yadav?"

He noted that Rahul Gandhi consistently addresses Bihar-specific issues. "While Tejashwi Yadav is the Mahagathbandhan's Chief Minister candidate, the campaign platform belongs to Rahul Gandhi," he stated. He emphasized that Bihar's politics should no longer be viewed through a caste lens. "How long will this continue? Congress doesn't engage in such politics."

The interview took an unexpected turn when Pappu Yadav delighted everyone by singing several classics, including 'Chandan sa badan' and some Bhojpuri songs.