Prashant Kishor, founder of Jan Suraaj’s party and political strategist-turned-activist, on Tuesday reacted for the first time to the loss in the Bihar assembly elections. He reflected on the mistakes he had made in the representative polls. Despite considerable fanfare, his business card failed to translate social media buzz into electoral success.
In his first post-election press conference, the 48-year-old JSP leader said, “There may have been mistakes on our part, but we did not commit any crime – not getting votes is not a crime. We did not do caste politics or indulge in Hindu-Muslim narratives,” ANI reported.
Key moments from his speech on November 18 in Patna:
- On JSP’s disappointing performance in the Bihar polls, Prashant Kishor said, “I made an honest effort but failed, I take percentage responsibility,” PTI reported.
- During the Patna presser, JSP founder Nitish Kumar challenged the NDA leadership and said, “They will definitely quit politics if the Nitish government gives ₹2 million each ₹1.5 million people as promised before the polls.
- Prashant Kishor claimed that the Janata Dal United (JDU) would not have won more than 25 seats in the Bihar polls if the Nitish Kumar-led government did not defect. ₹10,000 to women’s accounts. He claimed that this was a key factor in the NDA’s victory. In particular, JDU secured 85 seats in the Bihar polls.
- “People have given mandate to NDA; now it is on the shoulders of Modi, Nitish to work on fulfilling their poll promises,” added Prashant Kishor.
Jan Suraaj’s party (JSP) won 3.5% of the total votes in the Bihar polls, but was unable to secure a mandate. Election Commission of India (ECI) data shows it won zero seats out of the 238 seats it contested. JSP’s performance was remarkably close to VoteVibe’s predictions. This exit poll predicted 0-2 seats and a 5.2% vote share.
The results of the November 14 election revealed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25. The Lok Janshakti Ram Vilas (LJPRV) won 19 seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) won only 6 seats.
