Bihar Election: Jan Suraaj's dismal performance attracts BJP’s dig; Malviya shares poll data
Despite an energetic campaign and repeated focus on issues like joblessness, migration and lack of industries, the Jan Suraaj Party failed to turn its outreach into votes. The party’s strongest result came from Marhaura, where Naveen Kumar Singh, also known as Abhay Singh, finished second.
BJP leader Amit Malviya criticised pollsters who had predicted that the Prashant Kishor–led Jan Suraj Party (JSP) would significantly impact the saffron party’s prospects in the Bihar Assembly polls. Citing the data, Malviya pointed out that the debutant JSP lost its deposit in 236 out of the 238 seats it contested, failing to win even a single seat and finishing second in only one constituency.
He further noted that the party polled fewer votes than NOTA in 61 seats and managed to amass just 16.77 lakh votes, accounting for a 3.34 per cent of the vote share.
As per rules, candidates must secure at least one-sixth of the total votes polled to retrieve their security deposit of Rs 10,000 for general candidates and Rs 5,000 for SC and ST nominees.
Jan Suraaj falters at ballot box
Despite an energetic campaign and repeated focus on issues like joblessness, migration and lack of industries, the Jan Suraaj Party—launched by former political strategist Prashant Kishor—failed to turn its outreach into votes.
The party’s strongest result came from Marhaura, where Naveen Kumar Singh, also known as Abhay Singh, finished second. He lost to RJD’s Jitendra Kumar Rai, who won the seat with a margin of 27,928 votes.
Only a handful of JSP candidates managed to cross the 10 per cent mark. YouTuber Tripurari Kumar Tiwary, known as Manish Kashyap, secured 17.2 per cent of votes in Chanpatia after 24 rounds of counting. In Jokihat, Sarfaraj Alam received 16.26 per cent. Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Pandey, however, could garner only 7.45 per cent.
Earlier, Kishor had predicted a sweeping victory, even saying the party would either top the seat tally or finish last, with no middle ground.
Bihar Election 2025
The NDA won a whopping 202 seats in Bihar Assembly Election 2025. Among the allies, the BJP won 89 seats and became the single largest party in the state. The Janata Dal United won 85 seats, significantly improving its tally from last election. Chirag Paswan-led LJP won 19 seats while the HAM and RLM won 5 and 4 seats respectively.
The Mahagathbandhan was decimated and portrayed a humiliating show by accumulating just 35 seats. The RJD, which was the single largest party in 2020, managed to amass only 25 seats. The Congress got six seats.