Prashant Kishor accused of plagiarising content for ‘Baat Bihar Ki’ campaign, case filed

A case has been filed against election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor for alleged plagiarism in his 'Baat Bihar Ki' campaign launched here last week, police said on Thursday.

According to the complaint lodged at the Pataliputra police station in the city on Wednesday night, Kishor has used content developed by Shashwat Gautam, a data analytics coordinator with the Congress, for his campaign, Station House Officer (SHO) Kamleshwar Prasad Singh said.

Gautam has also named as accused his former aide Osama, who was privy to the content and whom he suspects of making the same available to Kishor after parting ways, the officer said.

Based on the complaint, a case has been lodged under sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, he added.

Further investigation in the matter is underway, Singh said.

Gautam, who hails from the East Champaran district, joined the Congress last year. The George Washington University alumnus was earlier associated with city-based think tank ADRI and served as an adviser to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Kishor had launched his campaign here on February 18, a month after being sacked from the JD(U) headed by Kumar. Kishor credited Kumar of achieving much during the 15 years in power but charged him with failure to do enough for a state that still lagged behind the rest of the country on most development parameters.