In a combative interview with Sreenivasan Jain, Jan Suraaj supremo and political consultant-turned-politician Prashant Kishor is pressed on whether his policy blueprint for Bihar is realistic. 

Asked about the question of jobs, Kishor says his first priority is to stem Bihar’s labour exodus by creating opportunities for daily wage work within the state. Asked about the millions in Bihar who want aspirational jobs, Kishor thinks that they will have to wait.

Questioned what would happen to the vast majority of children unable to secure admission into the limited “world-class” schools he has promised to build in every block, Kishor replies that under his proposed voucher system those children could either go to a private school or continue attending regular government schools. 

On having received Rs 11 crore from Navayuga Engineering for two hours of consultancy work, Kishor claims he never mentioned that the payment was only for ‘two hours’ of consulting, contradicting his earlier statement during a recent press conference. He says that Narendra Modi has been an “ineffective Prime Minister for Bihar”, but refuses to comment on the overall performance of PM Modi, stating that is not the issue he wants to focus on.

Watch.