Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Friday slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for having "touched the feet" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "ensure his own continuance in power."

Prashant Kishor, while addressing a public meeting in Bhagalpur on Friday during his 'Jan Suraaj' campaign, answered what he said was a frequently asked question to him about why he was criticising Nitish Kumar who he worked with in the past.

Prashant Kishor said Nitish Kumar "was a different man back then".

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"People ask me why I am now criticising Nitish Kumar, having worked with him in the past. He was a different man back then. His conscience had not been put up for sale," news agency PTI quoted Kishor as saying.

Prashant Kishor had managed the JD(U) president's election campaign in 2015 and formally joined the party two years later.

"The leader of a state is the pride of its people. But Nitish Kumar brought shame to Bihar when he touched the feet of Modi," Kishor said, referring to the NDA meeting in Delhi last week.

Nitish Kumar's JD(U) won 12 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections 2024 to emerge as the second largest ally of the BJP, which failed to get a majority on its own.

"There is so much talk about Nitish Kumar playing a key role in Modi's return to power. But how is the Bihar CM leveraging his position? He is not using his clout to ensure benefits for the state. He is touching feet to ensure that he remains in power, with BJP support, even after 2025 assembly polls," Prashant Kishor said.

Prashant Kishor had first shot to fame in 2014 for handling the Lok Sabha election campaign of PM Modi, whose BJP had secured 282 seats alone. By the time he gave up political consultancy in 2021, Kishor had worked for several high-profile politicians, including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Jagan Mohan Reddy.