‘Huge Shock’: Prashant Kishor Says He Hasn’t Slept Since Bihar Poll Rout

Prashant Kishor has described the Jan Suraaj Party’s rout in the Bihar Assembly elections as a “huge shock”, telling NDTV he has “not slept properly” since the results were declared last week. In his first interview after the party’s disappointing debut, the poll strategist-turned-politician said he remains committed to Bihar, insisting, “You are not defeated till you quit.” Despite securing only around 3.5 per cent of the vote, Kishor maintained that Jan Suraaj succeeded in shifting Bihar’s political conversation from caste and religion to employment, migration and governance.

Bihar Verdict “A Huge Shock”, Says Kishor

Kishor admitted that Jan Suraaj’s efforts did not translate into electoral success, but said the party had reshaped the political discourse. He outlined the four key voting blocs in Bihar: those voting on caste, those voting on religion, those supporting the NDA due to fear of Lalu Yadav’s return, and those backing the Opposition due to fear of the BJP. According to him, Jan Suraaj managed to dent the first two groups but failed to influence the latter two.

“We Will Try Again… BJP Had Two MPs Once”

Kishor insisted he is far from giving up. “The BJP too had just two MPs once. When you make a party, such results can come… We did not spread the venom of caste and religion. We will try again,” he said, adding that he has committed 10 years to Bihar’s welfare.

He accepted that he had not expected Jan Suraaj’s vote share to drop to 3.5 per cent, noting that he “played it blind” without surveys and originally estimated a 12-15 per cent share.

JDU’s Big Win “Shouldn’t Have Been More Than 25 Seats”

Kishor defended his pre-poll claim that the JDU would not cross 25 seats. Nitish Kumar’s party eventually secured 85 seats. Kishor attributed the surprise surge to the government’s Rs 10,000 self-employment assistance given to 1.2 crore women, saying over Rs 100 crore was spent in each of the 243 constituencies.

“I firmly believe the JDU shouldn’t have won more than 25 seats… 60,000 to 62,000 people were given Rs 10,000 each,” he said, arguing that a deeper look explains the unexpected outcome.

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