Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor led a protest march to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna on Wednesday to press for three key demands, including Rs 2 lakh assistance to the 94 lakh poor families and three dismil of land to 50 lakh landless Dalit and extremely backward families identified in the 2023 caste census, and to stop exploitation and corruption in the name of land surveys.
Prashant Kishor wanted to meet Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and present a memorandum with the signatures of 1 crore people in support of the three key demands. However, the police stopped them from entering the high security zone, prompting Prashant Kishor and thousands of his supporters to stage a sit-in on the road.
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The police even resorted to mild baton-charge to disperse the protesters injuring several, while some others were hurt during scuffles with the police.
As the baton charge began, Prashant Kishor lashed out at the administration, saying: “Why did you beat them? If you have the guts, hit me instead. We’ll make it impossible for this government to function across Bihar.”
Later, a six-member delegation, led by Jan Suraaj Party State President Manoj Bharti, presented the memorandum listing the three demands to the state chief secretary. He assured that action would be taken promptly on all the demands.
The poll strategist-turned-politician stated that if the chief secretary does not give a written timeline for action on their demands, the next move will be to surround the chief minister’s residence. “We’ll bring one lakh people and encircle the CM house. Nitish Kumar won’t be able to venture out,” he warned.
CPI (ML) leaders said Prashant Kishor has no understanding of the ground reality of the ongoing struggles of the poor and working class people in Bihar.
