Patna: Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor will hold a press conference on Monday for the first time since his party’s disappointing performance in the Bihar Assembly elections. Scheduled for 11:30 am at the Jan Suraaj Camp near Patliputra Golambar in Patna, Kishor is anticipated to discuss the electoral defeat and outline his future strategy. This event represents Kishor’s initial public engagement following his ambitious endeavor to transform Bihar politics, which did not yield the desired results. Despite a vigorous campaign and assertions of a vast grassroots network, the Jan Suraaj Party did not secure any seats. The party, boasting over one crore members, garnered less than 10 lakh votes.
Of the 238 seats contested, deposits of 233 candidates were forfeited, equating to 98% of the party’s total candidates. Jan Suraaj only placed second in Madhaura, a position achieved after the NDA candidate’s nomination was annulled. According to data from the Election Commission, Jan Suraaj is projected to conclude with a vote share of nearly 2%. In comparison, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM contested 28 seats, winning 5 and achieving a 1.9% vote share. Mayawati’s BSP contested 181 seats, secured one seat, and obtained 1.6% of the votes, outperforming Jan Suraaj in terms of seats won. Despite being from Rohtas district, Kishor could not retain deposits in any of the seven constituencies there.
In his own constituency, Karakhar, the party received only 7.42% of the votes. Kishor had made numerous bold assertions before the elections, including predictions that ‘Nitish will not become CM’ and that ‘JDU won’t exceed 25 seats.’ He insisted that Nitish Kumar’s government would collapse after November 14 and that JDU would secure fewer than 25 seats, asserting that he would resign from politics if proven wrong. The reality was that the NDA regained power with 202 seats, while JD(U) won 85 seats, becoming the second-largest party. Jan Suraaj failed to win any seats.
Kishor had also declared that ‘even if Jan Suraaj wins 130 seats, I will consider it a defeat,’ claiming in September that Jan Suraaj would make history by forming the government, but the party ultimately did not win any seats, with nearly all candidates losing their deposits. Kishor had maintained that ‘the real fight is between NDA and Jan Suraaj,’ dismissing the Grand Alliance as irrelevant; however, results indicated a direct contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, with Jan Suraaj not being a contender.
On the issue of promoting ‘clean politics,’ Kishor had asserted that Jan Suraaj would select honest candidates, yet an ADR report revealed that 108 of the 231 Jan Suraaj candidates had criminal cases, with 100 facing serious charges, including attempted murder and murder. Kishor had also claimed that his candidates faced pressure from Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the elections. Despite conducting a ground campaign for 1,280 days, covering 6,000 km across 5,000 villages and holding 5,000 meetings, Jan Suraaj failed to translate this extensive outreach into electoral success. On September 29, Kishor revealed his party’s finances, stating that consultancy fees from 2021 to 2023 totaled ₹241 crore, with 18% GST and nearly ₹20 crore in income tax paid.
After expenses, he claimed to have donated ₹98 crore of his personal earnings to Jan Suraaj, which was officially launched on October 2, 2024, at Patna’s Veterinary Ground, where Manoj Bharti was elected as the party’s acting president. Kishor’s press conference today is expected to address the reasons for the electoral failure, internal challenges, and future plans for the party.