New Delhi: Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor received a rude jolt in the debut election for his Jan Suraaj Party, which ended up in the third and fourth positions in four assembly bypolls in Bihar.
Having covered a distance of 3,500 kilometres across Bihar districts since 2022 to interact with people on the ground in what was called the Jan Surahj Padyatra, Kishor formally launched his party only last month.
On Saturday, as the results poured in, Kishor put up a brave front. His one-month-old party, Kishor asserted, secured 10 percent votes, though the overall performance was not up to expectations.
Speaking on the party’s future, he said the Mahayuti bounced back in the Maharashtra assembly election within six months of the Lok Sabha polls, and he has a whole year to prepare for the next assembly election in Bihar.
In three of the four assembly seats in Bihar—Belaganj, Imamganj and Tarari—JSP candidates secured the third position. On the fourth seat, Ramgarh, the party came fourth.
Promising to give the Bihar electorate clean politics, with leaders of proven efficiency and clean records, Kishor floated the Jan Suraaj Party on October 2—Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Supposed to be a bi-polar contest between the NDA and the INDIA bloc, the bypolls became a triangular contest when the Jan Suraaj Party fielded candidates in all four seats. Instead of nominating himself as the party president, Kishor appointed a former IFS officer, Manoj Bharti, to the position.
During the bypoll campaign, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressed four meetings and Lalu Prasad one. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor addressed 125 meetings, covering four constituencies. In his addresses, he told voters that Lalu and Nitish ruled Bihar for over three decades, and their time was up.
“I am giving you an alternative (in the form of JSP) to all those tired of the Lalu and Nitish rule over the last 34 years,” he kept mentioning. He urged the voters to help the new crop of leaders grow.
On the other hand, the Jan Suraaj Party faced criticism when three of the four candidates for the bypolls, it turned out, had pending criminal cases against them. The party’s choice of candidates went against Kishor’s promise to give tickets to candidates with a “clean image”. Their defeat in the bypolls now is a jolt for the party.
Just after the results became clear, Prashant Kishor addressed a press conference, accepting defeat but adding that he will bounce back.
He said, ”We will contest all 243 seats in 2025 assembly seats, with more preparation. It was just a start; we will bounce back after reviewing these results.”
Speaking to ThePrint, political analyst Dr Tanvir Aeijaz, vice-chairman of Centre for Multilevel Federalism, New Delhi, said, ”Prashant Kishor is trying to give political alternatives in Bihar, but his ideology is very unclear. Bihar is a politically savvy state where the public knows whom to vote for. There is no clarity on his stand on reservation and privatisation. He only targets mainstream parties, but what alternative will he give? No clarity. So, why would the public be attracted to vote?”
Jan Suraaj Party fielded Mohammad Amjad in the Belaganj assembly constituency. With 17,285 votes, he came third. Janata Dal (United) candidate Manorama Devi won the seat with 73,334 votes.
In the Imamganj assembly constituency, JSP candidate Jitendra Paswan also stood third, with 37,103 votes. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)’s Deepa Manjhi, the daughter-in-law of Union Minister Jitendra Ram Manjhi, clinched the seat by winning 53,435 votes.
In the Tarari assembly constituency, Jan Suraaj Party candidate Kiran Singh also could secure only the third position by winning 5,592 votes. With 78,564 votes, BJP candidate Vishal Prashant, son of former MLA and ‘Arrah strongman’ Sunil Pandey, emerged as the winner.
In the Ramgarh assembly constituency, JSP candidate Sushil Kumar Singh could manage only 6,513 votes, finishing fourth. BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Singh secured the seat by winning 62,257 votes.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
