Prashant Kishor wins Bankipur. Political life comes full circle as BJP's ex-strategist defeats its candidate | Profile
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Prashant Kishor wins Bankipur. Political life comes full circle as BJP's ex-strategist defeats its candidate | Profile")
File photo of Prashant Kishor. Photograph: (ANI)
Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor worked in public health in a United Nations-funded programme for eight years until 2021 before joining politics and working as a political strategist.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor made a surprising turn in the high-stakes Bankipur Assembly byelection. On Monday (August 3), at the time of writing, during round 30 of 31 in vote counting, Kishor held a commanding lead over BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha. As the news of the mounting lead spread, hundreds of Jan Suraaj workers gathered outside counting centres and party offices in Patna to celebrate the 'imminent' victory.
Once known as a kingmaker who never became king, Kishor threw his hat in the ring against BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha and RJD's Rekha Kumari for Assembly bypolls in Bihar from Bankipur constituency to test whether the political strategies he crafted for others can now deliver victory for himself.
Before coming into politics, he had been a successful political strategist for several political parties, including the BJP, JD(U), INC, AAP, YSRCP, DMK and TMC. One of Kishor's first major political campaigns was in 2011 to help Narendra Modi get re-elected as the CM of Gujarat for a third time in the state Assembly Elections 2012.
Who is Prashant Kishor?
Prashant Kishor, popularly known as PK, is an Indian politician and a former political strategist who founded the Jan Suraaj Party. He worked in public health in a United Nations-funded programme for eight years till 2021 before joining politics and working as a political strategist. Basically, Kishor was born on 20 March 1977 in a Kanyakubj Brahmin family in Konar village of Rohtas district. He later shifted to Buxar, where he completed his secondary education.
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Prashant Kishor's political journey
Prashant Kishor began his political career with the BJP in 2011, working pro bono without holding any formal position within the party or the Gujarat government. He served as a strategist for the BJP's pre-election campaigns ahead of the 2012 Gujarat Assembly election and the 2014 Lok Sabha election. In 2013, Kishor co-founded Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) alongside Robbin Sharrma and others, laying groundwork for the 2014 general election. His team is credited with pioneering campaigns for Narendra Modi, including the ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ discussions, 3D rallies, Run for Unity, and Manthan, alongside various social media initiatives.
In 2015, Kishor helped Nitish Kumar's Mahagathbandhan secure victory in the Bihar Assembly election. He joined the Janata Dal (United) in September 2018 as vice-president, regrouping his team as I-PAC to support Kumar's bid for a third term. Following the win, Kumar appointed Kishor as his advisor on planning and programme implementation. Kishor was also involved in the 2020 Bihar election.
In 2016, the Indian National Congress engaged Kishor for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh election, which proved unsuccessful; the BJP won over 300 seats while Congress secured just seven, marking Kishor's only electoral failure to date. Kishor has since worked with several other parties, including Amarinder Singh in Punjab (2017), YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh (2019), Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi (2020), Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal (2021), and MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu (2021).
Formation of Jan Suraaj party
Following the victories of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Prashant Kishor announced that he was stepping away from his role as an election strategist. On October 2, 2024, he formally launched the Jan Suraaj campaign as a political party, naming it the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP).
On October 9, 2025, the JSP unveiled its first list of 51 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, followed by a second list comprising 71 more nominees. Although there was speculation that Kishor would contest from the Raghopur Assembly constituency, he clarified on October 14 that he would not be entering the electoral fray. When the election results were announced, the party failed to secure a single seat in the 2025 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections.
