Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, whose Jan Suraaj Party is making its electoral debut in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, confirmed that he will not be contesting the polls on Wednesday.
Putting all speculation to rest, Kishor said that he would focus entirely on organisational work for the party rather than running as a candidate.
The decision became evident on Monday night when Jan Suraaj announced Chanchal Singh as its candidate for the Raghopur Assembly seat. Kishor had previously indicated that if he were to contest, he would do so from either Kargahar—his home constituency—or Raghopur, a stronghold of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
In its first list of candidates, Jan Suraaj had already named Ritesh Ranjan (Pandey) for Kargahar. The selection of Chanchal Singh for Raghopur confirmed Kishor’s choice to stay out of the fray.
Raghopur is an RJD bastion currently represented by Tejashwi Yadav, where Kishor would have faced a steep challenge. Moreover, contesting would have confined the Jan Suraaj founder to a single constituency, potentially hampering the party’s statewide campaign, as he remains its most prominent face.
“Jan Suraaj decided I should concentrate on organisational work and not contest,” Kishor said this morning. Setting an ambitious target for his party, he declared that “anything less than 150 seats” would constitute a “defeat” for Jan Suraaj.
Kishor predicted a decisive defeat for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, asserting that the Janata Dal (United) (JDU), led by Nitish Kumar, would struggle to win even 25 seats. He stated, “The NDA is definitely on its way out and Nitish Kumar will not return as Chief Minister.”
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Recalling the 2020 Assembly elections, Kishor noted, “You do not need to be a psephologist to fathom what is in store for the JD(U). In the last assembly polls, Chirag Paswan staged a revolt just a few days ahead of the announcement of elections and fielded candidates, many of whom were inconsequential, against nominees of Kumar's party, causing its tally to crash to 43.”
Kishor also highlighted internal discord within the opposition INDIA bloc, saying, “The situation is no better in the INDIA bloc either.
There is a never-ending tiff between RJD and the Congress. And nobody knows if former state minister Mukesh Sahani's Vikassheel Insaan Party is still by their side.” Polling for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be conducted in two phases on November 6 and 11, with results scheduled to be declared on November 14.
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