calender_icon.png 5 October, 2025 | 2:50 AM

PK, KTR in Tandem?

05-10-2025 12:00:00 AM

metro india news  I hyderabad

In the high-stakes theatre of Indian politics, where personal slights often morph into electoral battle cries, poll strategist and Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has escalated his feud with Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to unprecedented levels. With Bihar's assembly elections looming in late 2025 and Telangana's next polls not due until 2028, Kishor's recent barrage of interviews—delivered during his "Voter Adhikaar Yatra" across Bihar—carries the weight of a pre-emptive strike. Accusing Reddy of a deep-seated disdain for Biharis, Kishor has vowed to personally orchestrate the downfall of Reddy's Congress government in the next Telangana assembly elections.

"No power on earth can stop me from defeating Revanth and his government," Kishor thundered in an exclusive interview with Times Now on September 30, 2025, invoking a personal history of consultations that now fuels his vendetta. This isn't mere rhetoric; it's a calculated gambit from a man whose track record includes engineering victories for Narendra Modi's 2012 Gujarat campaign and Nitish Kumar's 2015 Bihar win, though his predictions have faltered, like his erroneous forecast of a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) triumph in Telangana's 2023 polls.

The spark igniting this inferno traces back to December 2023, mere days after Reddy's dramatic ascent to Telangana's chief ministership following Congress's sweeping 64-seat victory in the assembly elections—upending the incumbent BRS's decade-long rule. In a victory speech on December 7, 2023, Reddy, then a triumphant opposition leader, veered into controversy while targeting BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). Rallying against alleged favoritism toward migrant laborers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Reddy quipped, "It is in the DNA of Biharis and UP walon to do labour work.

They are born to do labour." The remark, delivered in Telugu amid cheers from a Hyderabad crowd, was meant as a populist jab at KCR's supposed reliance on "imported" workers for construction projects. But it swiftly snowballed into a national row, with the BJP branding it as Congress's ploy to stoke a North-South divide. Union Minister Nityanand Rai, himself a Bihari, demanded an apology, calling it an "insult to the people of Bihar." Data from the 2023 Telangana census underscores the sensitivity: Bihar-origin migrants constitute over 15% of Hyderabad's informal workforce, often in low-wage sectors, making Reddy's words a raw nerve for a community integral to the state's economy.

Reddy's comment wasn't isolated; it echoed a pattern in South Indian politics where regional leaders decry "outsiders" during elections. Yet, its timing—right after polls—amplified the backlash. The BJP seized the moment, with Ravi Shankar Prasad accusing Congress of "stereotyping Bihar and Biharis with contempt," a narrative that resurfaced in 2025 amid Bihar's polls. Reddy later clarified it as a critique of KCR's policies, not Biharis per se, but the damage lingered. Fast-forward to August 2025: As Reddy joined Rahul Gandhi's Voter Adhikaar Yatra in Bihar—

Congress's push for electoral reforms ahead of the state polls—the ghost of "DNA" returned. In Motihari on August 26, Kishor lambasted the alliance: "Revanth Reddy is the same man who said doing labour work is in the DNA of people of Bihar... If they are bringing such a man to the stage in Bihar, it is the responsibility of every individual in Bihar to throw him back to Telangana." Kishor escalated, warning, "If he visits any village here, people will chase him with sticks," a visceral image that went viral, amassing over 4,500 likes on X.

Kishor's retorts have grown personal and pointed, blending Bihar pride with professional score-settling. In a September 24, 2025, clip circulating on Instagram, he recounted Reddy's pre-2023 desperation: "Revanth Reddy came to me thrice, begging for political advice. He said, 'Bhaiya, if you bless us, we'll win.'" Kishor mocked, "If Biharis have low IQ and inferior DNA, why did Revanth come crawling to a Bihari like me for help in the polls?" This anecdote, if accurate, flips the script: Reddy, now a Congress star who accurately predicted BJP's 303 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 (versus Kishor's overestimate), once sought the strategist's "ashirwad" (blessing).

Kishor's Jan Suraaj, launched in 2024, aims to contest all 243 Bihar seats independently, polling at 10-12% in early 2025 surveys by CVoter—enough to splinter votes from Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and Tejashwi Yadav's RJD. By tying his Bihar campaign to avenging Reddy, Kishor positions himself as a regional defender, potentially consolidating Bihari migrant support in Telangana, where they number over 2 million per 2023 labor ministry data.

The query's speculation rings true: Barring ideological mismatches with AIMIM or Left parties, a tacit pact with BRS—led by KTR, son of KCR—looms large. BRS, decimated to zero Lok Sabha seats in 2024 as Reddy predicted, craves revival; Kishor's anti-Congress playbook could synergize with KTR's youth-focused revival, potentially netting 20-30 seats in urban Hyderabad and rural strongholds. In a July 2025 YouTube interview, Kishor hinted at such cross-state maneuvers, slamming "Thackeray brothers" while name-dropping Reddy's "mocking Biharis."

As things stand today, it is likely that Prashant Kishor may not expand his Jan Suraj Party in Telangana state instead he may extend his tactical support and advice to the KTR led BRS. The BRS is also not averse to having a tie up and advice from PK as it would not harm their interests. It may prove to be an advantage for the BRS. Thins will clear on this matter based on the outcome of the Bihar polls. If PK manages to secure a respectable number of seats he will be the much sought after guy, if not things will be entirely different.