New Delhi: With less than two weeks to go for the first phase of polling in Bihar, ruling Janta Dal-United’s (JDU) second in command, Prashant Kishor, announced on Friday that he will not be in-charge of campaigning and management of the party. In his tweet earlier in the day, he said that JDU leader and Rajya Sabha member Ram Chandra Prasad Singh will take care of “electioneering and management of the JD(U).”

“The responsibility for electioneering and management by JD(U) is on the strong shoulders of Shri RCP Singh Ji, the preferred leader of the party. My role in this early stages of my politics is learning and collaborating,” reads Kishor’s tweet.

बिहार में NDA माननीय मोदी जी एवं नीतीश जी के नेतृत्व में मजबूती से चुनाव लड़ रहा है।JDU की ओर से चुनाव-प्रचार एवं प्रबंधन की जिम्मेदारी पार्टी के वरीय एवं अनुभवी नेता श्री RCP सिंह जी के मजबूत कंधों पर है।मेरे राजनीति के इस शुरुआती दौर में मेरी भूमिका सीखने और सहयोग की है। — Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) March 29, 2019

Singh, a native of Nalanda district, was a UP cadre IAS officer before joining politics. He was also the principal secretary to Nitish Kumar.

The move came as a surprise in political circles because Kishor, a political strategist and vice-president of JDU, was expected to take care of the party’s strategies during the Lok Sabha elections. Moreover, Nitish Kumar had, at two instances, mentioned that Kishore was inducted after a personal recommendation by BJP Party president Amit Shah.

Kishor is Narendra Modi’s former political aide.

The rift between JDU leaders and Kishor became apparent when, during a TV interview, Kishor had said, “He (Nitish Kumar) should have gone for a fresh mandate after he changed sides from mahagathbandhan to NDA.” This remark apparently triggered serious discontent within the party.

“He (Prashant Kishor) is offering pravachan (discourse) on seeking a mandate. Where was his gyan (knowledge) when the party took the decision to realign with the BJP? Moreover, does he not remember that his own formal entry into the JD(U) came after the development, which he questioning now?” JD(U) MLC and party spokesman Neeraj Kumar had said.