Patna: Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) did not win any seats in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, yet its participation was significant for both the BJP-led NDA and the Grand Alliance, drawing votes in several closely contested constituencies. The JSP contested 238 of Bihar’s 243 seats and garnered 3.44% of the total vote. Although this resulted in no victories and the loss of deposits for most candidates, the party’s vote share was sufficient to influence results in multiple constituencies with narrow margins. In Chanpatia, JSP candidate Tripurari Kumar Tiwari, popularly known as Manish Kashyap, was the party’s best performer, receiving 17% of the vote and saving his deposit with 37,172 ballots.
The incumbent BJP MLA, Umashankar Singh, lost by just 602 votes, highlighting the JSP’s role in this upset. A similar effect was noted in Saharsa, where JSP candidate and former MLA Kishore Kumar Munna received 12,766 votes, contributing to the defeat of BJP’s Alok Ranjan Jha, a former minister, by a margin of 2,038 votes. In Madhaura, the JSP achieved an unexpected second-place finish, with Naveen Kumar Singh obtaining 58,190 votes, surpassing an NDA-backed independent candidate. Despite its overall lackluster performance, the Jan Suraaj Party’s impact on the BJP’s vote share has attracted attention in political discussions.
Analysts note that the party’s presence complicated electoral calculations in various seats, raising questions about the potential evolution of its support base in future elections. While the JSP’s organizational capacity is still limited, its influence in select constituencies suggests that it could continue to disrupt Bihar’s political scenario, even without securing seats.
