Prashant Kishor: RSS real coffee, BJP just the frothy top

Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Sunday compared the BJP-RSS combine to a cup of coffee in which the party was like the frothy top and the parent body was the real thing underneath.

Kishor, who is on a 3,500 kilometres long "pada-yatra" in Bihar, came up with the colourful analogy at Lauria in West Champaran district which he has been covering on foot since October 2.

Kishor lamented that it took him long to realise that "the ideology of (Nathuram) Godse can be defeated only by reviving Gandhi’s Congress" and "it would have been better had I worked in that direction instead of helping people like Nitish Kumar and Jagan Mohan Reddy realise their ambitions".

The IPAC founder, who has been sceptical of a united opposition's efficacy in halting the Narendra Modi juggernaut, emphasised that one cannot defeat the BJP unless one understands what it is.

"Have you ever looked at a cup of coffee? There is froth at the top. BJP is like that. Below that there is the deep structure of the RSS. The Sangh has wormed its way into the social fabric. It cannot now be beaten with shortcuts," said Kishor.

The political strategist's first claim to fame was his handling of Modi's poll campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, a spectacular success that helped the BJP get a majority on its own.

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Kishor also continued to hurl barbs at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) has been calling him a "BJP agent".

"I was the JD(U) national vice president when the nation was on the boil against CAA-NPR-NRC. I was appalled to learn that MPs of my party had voted in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament," recalled the 45-year-old, often perceived to be as ideologically agnostic.

"I confronted Nitish Kumar, who was then our national president. He claimed he was away on a tour and not aware of the development but glibly assured me that he will not allow NRC in Bihar. The duplicity made me realise I cannot work with this man," said Kishor who was expelled from JD(U) over the spat with Kumar.

Kishor, whose much-anticipated entry into the Congress could not fructify last year despite meetings with its top leaders, hinted that he still admired the organisation but in its old avatar under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Godse's ideology can be defeated only by reviving the Congress of Gandhi," said Kishor, in an oblique reference to alleged RSS links of the Mahatma's assassin.