Over the decades, Prashant Kishor had earned a name for himself in Indian politics, getting credit for the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2020 Delhi polls and Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2021 West Bengal polls. Thus, there was much hype when the election-strategist floated the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) and announced to contest the 2025 Bihar polls.
In runup to assembly polls, Kishor raised many key issues such as unemployment and exodus of migrant labourers, gaining much attention. In his fiery campaign, the 48-year-old even claimed that either his party will either win 10 or 150 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. On the contrary, his party failed to even secure a single seat, failing to live up to the expectations.
Zero PK impact?
Kishor's party had fielded candidates on 238 seats. Although the party failed to open even a single account, it secured a vote share which was less than four per cent. According to the data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), most of Jan Suraaj candidates secured less than 10 per cent of the total votes polled and have their deposit forfeited.
Notably, most of the exit polls had also predicted a rout for Jan Suraaj in assembly polls.
In many seats, the total votes received by Jan Suraaj candidates is even less than the NOTA (None of the Above) category. Political observers believe that one of the reasons why Kishor's party performed miserably was the election-strategist's decision to not contest the elections. They even said that though Kishor raised key issues and showed his party as an alternative, he failed to build a strong social coalition.
Kishor's party needs to rework on strategy
After failing to impress in 2025 Bihar polls, the Jan Suraaj needs to rework on its strategy to remain relevant in state's politics. Meanwhile, the party has said that the voters supported the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) "out of fear of return of jungle raj" under the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). It also said that the party will keep opposing the NDA.
"I can say there was fear of the return of jungle raj under the RJD. Although I am not saying that there has been any jungle raj, the fear was there. Many people, who would have given us a chance, ended up voting for the NDA out of that fear," JSP national president Uday Singh said, as quoted by news agency PTI. "We are disappointed with the outcome of the assembly polls, but not upset. Though we have not won even a single seat, we will keep opposing the ruling NDA."
NDA's dominant display in Bihar
The NDA remained the dominant performer in Bihar, with the BJP and the Janata Dal United (JDU) winning 89 and 85 seats, respectively. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) won 19, five and four seats, respectively, taking the alliance total tally to 202 in the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly.
On the other hand, the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan won just 34 seats. The RJD, the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 25, six, two and one seats, respectively.
