
Prashant Kishor welcomes Bihar social media influencer Manish Kashyap into Jan Suraaj — ‘A union for change'
Kashyap was accompanied by a large group of his supporters for the event. This comes months ahead of the assembly election in Bihar.
The 'union' between himself and Kashyap represented more than just a partnership between two young leaders, Kishor said at the event.
'This is not just a union of two youths. In Bihar, there are millions of young people who want change, who want to be free from the rule of Lalu, Nitish, and Modi. They want to be free from corruption, illiteracy, migration, and unemployment. This is a coming together of all those who have the passion and concern to see Bihar change, who want development here just like in other states,' Kishor said.
He went on to say: 'We want migration to stop, and for our children to have education and employment. This is not just the union of two individuals or two names, but the union of the aspirations of those who have long wanted change in Bihar, but in the absence of options, have voted for Lalu out of fear of Modi and for Modi or Nitish out of fear of Lalu. Now, they see a path, an alternative, a right way forward to reform Bihar'.
Kashyap joined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. At that time, he had spent nine months in jail after he was arrested last year for 'circulating fake videos' on 'attacks on Bihari migrants in Tamil Nadu'. However, despite his significant social media following and public profile, he was not given a party ticket to contest the election.
He officially announced his resignation from the BJP on June 8. In a video message he posted making the announcement, Kashyap accused the party of having 'used' him until the Delhi assembly election.
This came after Kashyap was accused of assaulting and 'illegally' confining junior doctors in Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) when he allegedly visited the hospital to advocate for a patient. He allegedly began recording a video inside the hospital, which escalated into the altercation, subsequently leading to him being assaulted and mistreated.
He cited the incident for leaving the BJP, saying he felt abandoned by the incident after the incident.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Deccan Herald
20 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
Mamata sets stage for 'Bangaliyana vs Hindutva', asks TMC workers to launch stir against BJP's linguistic terror
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of unleashing 'linguistic terrorism' on Bengalis across the country and called for a movement to protect the language and cultural identity of the state against such onslaughts by the saffron party. With the assembly elections in West Bengal less than a year away, Mamata not only blew the poll bugle with a no-holds-barred offensive against the BJP but also set the TMC's strategy to counter the saffron party's aggressive Hindutva with an assertive Bangaliyana. As she addressed a mammoth congregation of the TMC workers at the party's annual Martyrs' Day event in Kolkata to pay homage to the 13 people killed in police firing on July 21, 1993, while demanding fair polls, the TMC supremo also warned the BJP against using the Election Commission to manipulate the electoral rolls..'Being born Bengali has become crime in BJP states': CM Mamata Banerjee amid migrant party's general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, said that he and other parliamentarians of the TMC would now speak only in Bengali in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 'We will not kowtow before any attempt by the BJP to erase Bengali.' 'We must win more seats in the 2026 assembly polls (in West Bengal) and then march to Delhi to oust the BJP from power at the Centre,' the TMC supremo said, coining the 'Jabda Habe, Stabdha Habe' (we will trounce them, silence them) as her party's new war cry for the 2026 assembly polls, moving on from the 'khela habe (game is on)'. The TMC over the past few weeks stepped up its attacks on the governments of the BJP-ruled states for the detention of migrant workers from West Bengal by police and, in some cases, even deportation to Bangladesh, often allegedly disregarding their claim of being genuine citizens of India. Mamata, the chief minister of West Bengal since 2011, on Monday accused the BJP-led governments in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat and Delhi of harassing migrant workers from her state only because they spoke in their mother language to witness 'artificial fight' between Modi and Mamata as polls nearing: Adhir.'The BJP wants to erase our identity, language, culture and pride. But I promise you, till the time we oust them from the Centre, our fight will continue,' she said. 'In 2019, they vandalised the statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. They saw the results of that audacious act of insulting Bengali icons (in the 2021 assembly polls). Now, they have issued notifications to delete Bengali names from voter lists. In BJP-ruled states, Bengalis are being harassed and put in detention camps,' alleged the TMC supremo. 'If needed, there will be a second Bhasha Andolan (language movement) against the BJP's terrorism on the Bengali language... From July 27, a movement will start in Bengal to protest the attack on Bengalis, Bengali language and 'Bhasha Santras' (linguistic terrorism) of the BJP,' she said, adding: 'This language movement will continue till the end of the assembly polls.' The first 'Bhasha Andolan' had taken place in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1952 to protest the imposition of Urdu and sidelining of Bengali in the eastern part of Pakistan. A police crackdown had resulted in the death of at least 29 protesting students on February 21, 1952. The United Nations later declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day..'BJP is watching': Suvendu cautions police officers 'siding' with TMC.'(West) Bengal is home to nearly 1.5 crore migrants from other states. We welcome people from all over India. But look at what the BJP is doing to Bengalis (in the states ruled by it),' said Mamata. She called upon the TMC workers to be very cautious to resist attempts by the BJP and the EC to erase names of legitimate voters of West Bengal from the electoral rolls of the state and instead enroll people from other BJP-ruled states. 'The BJP and the EC are conspiring against (West) Bengal. They want to do in Bengal what they did in Bihar through SIR (Special Intensive Revision). In Bihar, they have deleted the names of 40 lakh voters. If they try it here, we will gherao them. We will never allow it,' she said.

The Hindu
20 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Farmer groups to step up campaign against FTA with U.S.
A general body meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) held in New Delhi on Sunday (July 20, 2025) has warned the Union government against going ahead with the proposed trade agreement with the United States. The SKM said, in a statement on Monday (July 21, 2025), that the general body has also called for nationwide protests against the deal as it could act against the interests of farmers. The SKM will observe August 13 as 'Corporations Quit India Day' and said it seriously apprehends that the Narendra Modi government is surrendering to the diktats of the 'U.S. Imperialism' to sign the free trade agreement (FTA). The SKM said such an agreement could lead to opening up of agriculture, dairy and food markets and that will hurt the interests of the people. 'The FTA is supposed to come into effect by August 1, 2025. August 9 is the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India Day movement against British colonialism. To protest the BJP-led NDA government's moves to accept USA's pressures and increase imports of food and dairy items, including Genetically Modified foods and penetration of multinational corporations in food markets, SKM will issue a mass warning through these mass protests,' the statement said. 'Peasants will raise the slogan 'Corporations Quit India' on August 13 by organising tractor/ motor vehicle parades and protest demonstrations and burn effigies of the US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,' the statement added. The meeting congratulated the leadership of the united trade union movement for the strike action on July 9. 'This was the 22nd general strike since the invention of neo-liberal policies and its success has filled confidence to all the democratic sections in the society that the entire working people are ready to fight back the anti-people policies of the ruling classes,' the statement said.


United News of India
33 minutes ago
- United News of India
Bengal: Mamata launches statewide "Language Movement," warns of voter rights agitation
Kolkata, July 21 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced the launch of a statewide "language movement" starting July 26, accusing the BJP-led central government and several states ruled by the saffron outfit of targeting the Bengali culture and identity. Her announcement came during the Trinamool Congress's (TMC) annual Martyrs' Day rally, which drew a massive crowd in Kolkata and carried deep emotional and political undertones. The 21 July Martyrs' Day rally is held annually by the TMC to commemorate 13 people killed allegedly by West Bengal Police during a 1993 protest by the Youth Congress against the erstwhile Left Front government of Bengal. Led by Mamata Banerjee, then state Youth Congress president, the protest — called "Writers' Chalo Abhiyan" — demanded that voter ID cards be the sole proof for voting to curb purported widespread electoral fraud, referred to as "scientific rigging" by the opposition parties and a section of the media. Addressing the gathering, Banerjee alleged that a "systematic attack" is underway on Bengali identity, with reports of Bengali-speaking individuals being harassed and even arrested in states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan - all ruled by the BJP. 'Over a thousand people have been jailed just for speaking in Bengali,' Banerjee said, citing a controversial circular that she claims allows authorities to detain suspects for up to a month. 'They're afraid of Bengal's intellect and legacy,' she said passionately, invoking the state's cultural icons like Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. 'This is the land where the National Anthem was born. Why are you afraid of our language?' Banerjee called for weekly street protests every Saturday and Sunday until the next assembly elections scheduled for mid next year, urging citizens to stand up against linguistic and cultural discrimination. She also vowed to escalate the movement to the national level if needed. 'I ask everyone to go home and prepare for a larger language movement,' Banerjee said. 'There should be street protests against the continuous attacks on the Bengali language.' Intensifying her criticism of the BJP, the TMC supremo claimed Bengalis are facing cultural and linguistic discrimination in other states. 'They say you can't speak in Bengali. They want to control what people eat — fish, meat, eggs. A BJP leader even claimed that 17 lakh Rohingyas live in Bengal. In Myanmar, there are only 10 lakh Rohingyas. From where 17 lakh Rohingyas will come? ' she asked. Responding, Banerjee accused the BJP of using such claims to delete the names of Bengali voters from electoral rolls in Maharashtra, Bihar, and "possibly Bengal next". She also alleged the Centre was withholding funds and discontinuing central welfare schemes as part of a "broader attempt to hinder" the state's development. However, she emphasised that despite the bottlenecks, her government has continued to provide housing, improve infrastructure, and support all communities without waiting for central assistance The Chief Minister's speech also took aim at the Election Commission of India (ECI), which she accused of acting under political pressure in allegedly deleting Bengali names from electoral rolls. 'They are deleting names in Bihar. In Gujarat, they are striking out names of Bengali-speaking people. For every Bengali name, four outsiders are being added. This is nothing short of a 'super emergency,'' she said. Referring to the ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive, Banerjee warned, 'If even one voter from Bengal is removed, we will hit the streets. We will go to Delhi, and if necessary, gherao the Election Commission.' She compared the voter deletion efforts to an NRC-like exercise, claiming that minorities and Bengali-speaking people are being selectively targeted. These warnings follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent comments in Durgapur, where he accused the TMC of protecting infiltrators through a "fake documentation ecosystem." 'This isn't just a national security threat — it's a betrayal of Bengal's culture,' Modi had said, assuring that non-citizens would face legal consequences. In response, Banerjee accused the BJP of using national security as a pretext to disenfranchise legitimate Bengali voters. Adding a poignant layer to the rally, Banerjee paid emotional tribute to two Bengalis recently killed in terror-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir — Bitan Adhikari, a TCS engineer and civilian victim of the Pahalgam attack, and Havildar Jhantu Ali Sheikh of the Indian Army's elite 6 Para Special Forces, martyred in Udhampur. Their families present on stage were embraced by Banerjee, who emphasised the state's respect for their sacrifice. The Chief Minister used the moment to underline the emotional and political stakes of her campaign. As the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections draw near, Banerjee's rallying cry signals a combative phase in state politics, with the TMC gearing up for a sustained campaign around language, identity, and democratic rights. UNI XC SSP