Prashant Kishor rules out contesting Bihar elections despite hinting direct fight with RJD's Tejashwi Yadav - Here's what he said

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday (Oct 15) made a big announcement stating that he will not contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly Election. He explained his stance saying that the decision was taken by the party for its greater good. The announcement comes amid high anticipation that Kishor might contest from the Raghopur seat in Bihar and would be in direct fight with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav who represents the constituency currently.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Kishor said, “The party has decided that I should not contest the assembly polls. And therefore, the party has announced another candidate from Raghopur, against Tejashwi Yadav. It was a decision we took in the larger interest of the party. If I were to contest, it would have distracted me from the necessary organisational work.” The former poll strategist also said that a “tally of less than 150 seats” for Jan Suraaj will be considered a defeat. Asked to choose between winning and losing, he said that the game might go either way for his party. “ I have been stating on record that I expect a tally of either fewer than 10 seats or more than 150 seats. There is no possibility of anything in between,” he said. Stating that if his Jan Suraaj wins the Bihar elections, it would have a “nationwide impact”, Kishor added, “The compass of national politics will point in a different direction.”

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When asked the most important question about the post poll alliance in case of a fractured mandate, Kishor said that hung assembly situation is impossible. He, however, added, “A tally less than 150, even if it is 120 or 130, shall be a defeat for me. If we do well, we will have the mandate to transform Bihar and make it count among the 10 most advanced states of the country. If we do not do well enough, it would mean the people have not shown enough confidence in us, and we must continue to carry on with our politics of the street and society (samaj aur sadak ki rajneeti).” About Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Kishor has maintained since the beginning of the campaign that it would struggle to win even “25 seats” in the 243-strong assembly. “The NDA is definitely on its way out, and Nitish Kumar will not return as Chief Minister,” Kishor said.

Ahead of elections, Kishor's party had announced plans to contest all 243 seats, with the stated objective of transforming Bihar into one of India's top ten states within the next decade. They have already released two list of candidates for the polls.

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Bihar Elections on Nov 6 and Nov 11

Bihar will vote in two phases - on November 6 and November 11. The election results will be announced on November 14. In 2020 state polls, the BJP-JDU alliance defeated the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan with a narrow margin. Nitish Kumar is the incumbent CM of the state after swearing in for the ninth time in 2024. He became the CM after NDA won in 2020. However, in 2022, he shifted his allegiance and joined the Mahagathbandhan, but became the CM again - for the eighth term. This time, Kumar became instrumental in forming yet another anti-BJP grouping - the INDIA alliance, only to exit it in 2024. He patched up with the BJP, that is how he is still the CM. Nitish Kumar has vowed not to shift sides "ever again." The BJP is yet again rowing its boat with Nitish as its oarsman.

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