Image-building exercise: Prashant Kishor on BJP chief's donation for Bihar flood

Prashant Kishor said BJP Nitin Nabin's salary donation looked like image-building exercise and urged the BJP leadership to address Bihar's chronic flood crisis.

In Short

• Nearly 49.72 lakh people across 15 Bihar districts remain flood-affected
• Major rivers including Ganga and Kosi are flowing above danger marks
• Authorities are running 303 community kitchens and seven relief camps

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Saturday took a jibe at Bihar BJP chief Nitin Nabin for donating his three months' salary as a Rajya Sabha MP to flood relief, calling it an "image-building exercise" amid the severe flooding in the state.

Kishor also reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of their poll promise to "permanently fix Bihar's recurring flood problem" and said he expected "a few words of sympathy" from them for the people affected by the deluge.

Prashant Kishor, the Bankipur MLA from the constituency earlier represented by Nabin, said the BJP leader should contribute from the party's funds as well. He asked the BJP chief to spare some money out of the more than Rs 30,000 crores lying in the BJP's coffers.

"A few days ago, I said that you should not use public money to carry out relief work during a tragedy and then use it to project your own image. As the national president of the BJP, he should also contribute some amount from the BJP's fund, which has more than Rs 30,000 crore," he said.

Nabin had said on Friday that he was donating Rs 6.35 lakh, equivalent to his three months' salary as an MP, to the Bihar Chief Minister's Relief Fund. A day later, Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and several MPs and ministers donated one month's salary to the fund for flood victims. Earlier, the Bihar BJP had donated Rs 51 lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Bihar is facing severe flooding, with nearly 49.72 lakh people in 15 districts affected. Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai and Buxar are among the worst-hit districts. The Ganga, Kosi, Punpun, Budhi Gandak, Bagmati and Ghaghara rivers were flowing above danger levels at several places, prompting the administration to run 303 community kitchens and seven relief camps in the affected areas for around 9,003 people.

Asked about preparations for the MLC elections and the announcement of candidates, Kishor said a press conference would be held on Sunday, when the names of the Jan Suraaj-backed candidates would be announced. Elections for eight Bihar Legislative Council seats covering the Teachers and Graduates constituencies are approaching, with the terms ending on November 16.

- Ends