Cannot be denied: Prashant Kishor calls Nitish Kumar one of Bihar's 10 best leaders

Prashant Kishor praised Nitish Kumar's political legacy while alleging that proxies ran his government. He also demanded support for families affected by the Vaishali boat tragedy.

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has praised JD(U) president Nitish Kumar as one of Bihar's 10 best political leaders of all time, while reiterating his criticism of the former chief minister's continuation in power despite what he described as worsening mental health, Press Trust of India reported.

Kishor said Kumar would be remembered for trying to improve Bihar, but alleged that the government had been run by proxies. He made the remarks on Saturday while campaigning for the upcoming Legislative Council elections.

The Bankipur MLA was responding to journalists who asked whether Kumar, whom he has known for many years, could have ordered the killing of political adversaries.

The question followed a statement by Mokama MLA Anant Kumar Singh, who later withdrew his remarks. Singh claimed that the "nine murders" he had referred to were of members of his own family, who were killed because of his closeness to the JD(U) chief when the RJD was in power.

Kishor, a former national vice-president of the JD(U), said, "Anant Singh belongs to the JD(U), which is a part of the government. The RJD is the main party in opposition. The matter is for the two parties to thrash out."

He said the two parties could order an investigation if they considered it appropriate, adding that the Jan Suraaj Party had nothing to say on the matter.

"As far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, I consider him as one of the most sensible politicians of Bihar. He will be counted among the 10 all-time best political leaders of the state. When I opposed him, it was because he was being made to occupy the seat of power despite unsound mental health while the government was being run through proxies," Kishor said, according to PTI.

"Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that Nitish Kumar shall be remembered as a leader who tried to improve things in Bihar," the 49-year-old said. Kishor had handled Kumar's Assembly election campaign in 2015 while heading the consultancy firm IPAC.

Kishor was also asked about a boat tragedy in a Vaishali village the previous week that killed 13 children. The village is about 70 km from the district headquarters of Hajipur.

"It was a big tragedy and in a developed country, a mishap of this magnitude would have caused the government to fall. It is a shame that Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has not bothered to visit the village, just because it happens to fall in the Assembly constituency of Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition," he said.

Kishor said the bereaved families deserved help and sympathy. "I have decided to visit the village on October 20, when the festival of Dussehra falls. I will try to spend the entire day offering succour to the grief-stricken people," he said.