Poll strategist Prashant Kishor today stopped short of announcing a new party but said he would devote his time and energy to transforming the face of Bihar. As part of his plan, he has planned to launch a 3000-KM padyatra (foot march) across the state to meet the people and understand their issues before he decides to float a new party or platform.

“I will launch my padyatra from Gandhi Ashram in West Champaran on October 2 during which I will be knocking on the doors of the villagers, interacting with them, and understanding their issues. If we have to change the face of the state then there is no other alternative than this. Collective approach and efforts are must to bring perceptible changes in the state,” Kishor said, addressing a Press conference today. According to him, almost a whole year could be spent on meeting more than 17,000 persons his team has identified and connecting them with their “good governance” campaign.

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His first priority, Kishor informed, will be to contact those persons in various parts of the state and bring them on a single platform. “If they stress the need for floating the party or platform, then we will decide over it,” Kishor said, adding he was not in a hurry and any decision would be taken only after thorough deliberation.

Although he refrained from directly criticizing the state’s two political titans, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, he said the 30 year-rule by these two leaders has failed to bring the desired change in the state with Bihar still figuring among the list of most backward states in matters of development index. “The kind of changes which should have taken place in Bihar in 30 years of rule by these two leaders have not taken place,” he said.

To a query, he said caste-ridden society is no deterrent for him stating there were quite good persons in every caste. “If only caste was the issue then Narendra Modiji would not have become the Prime Minister. Modiji ke jati ka kitna vote hai? What is more important is issues and the profile of the candidates,” he explained. All through the press conference, Kishor avoided using harsh words toward the political leaders and he even paid due respect to Tejashwi Yadav saying while the latter is currently Leader of the Opposition, he is only a beginner.

However, the leaders cutting across the party lines mounted attacks on Kishor for his fresh move. “We know he has worked for so many parties and coined poll slogans for them but we are hardly worried. We have our own priorities,” senior JD-U minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said. The BJP went even more acerbic, describing him as a “political business”. “Don’t call Prashant Kishor a strategist, he is a political businessman,” alleged former BJP MP Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav.

The RJD said anyone could form a party or join politics in democracy but they are hardly bothered. “Prashant Kishor had promised to work for Bihar two years back also and this time he has come again but we are not taking him seriously,” RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari said adding only the Tejashwi model would succeed in Bihar