File photo of Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor.
| Photo Credit: PTI
On November 20, when Nitish Kumar will take oath at Gandhi Maidan as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 10th time, Prashant Kishor, the founder of Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), will observe a day-long silent fast at Bhitiharwa Gandhi Ashram in West Champaran bearing the responsibility for his party’s debacle in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Taking the onus of his party’s poor performance in which JSP could not win a single seat, Mr. Kishor said the party could not bring a systemic change. He said that the Janata Dal (United) would have been restricted to 25 seats had the government not given ₹10,000 to the women under self-employment initiative.
“Had Nitish Kumar not given ₹10,000 to 60,000 beneficiaries in each constituency just before the Assembly elections and promised ₹2 lakh to 1.5 crore women across the State, his party would have been restricted to 25 seats,” Mr. Kishor said.
He said that he would “definitely quit” politics if the government fulfilled its poll promise and gives ₹2 lakh to 1.5 crore women in Bihar.
He said that for the first time in the history of the country, a State government has made a promise to the public to spend ₹40,000 crore rupees and people voted for this.
“The entire government machinery was deployed, and it was announced that if the government wins, they will receive a further ₹2 lakh to start a business. Now, I will urge the Nitish Kumar government to give the ₹2 lakh to the 1.5 crore women in the next six months as promised, otherwise it will become clear that the money was not given to them under a scheme but to buy votes,” Mr. Kishor said.
He provided a mobile number – 9121691216 – and urged women to call if they did not receive ₹2 lakh in the next six months as promised by the government. The JSP will accompany them to the government offices with their grievances.
Asked about his earlier proclamation that he would retire from politics if the JD(U) got more than 25 seats, Mr. Kishor said, “What position am I holding that I should resign? From which position should I resign? I did not say that I will leave Bihar. I have left politics. I do not do politics, but I did not say that I will stop speaking for the people of Bihar.”
“In the Mahabharata, Abhimanyu was surrounded and killed, yet the Pandavas won. I am not leaving Bihar and will work twice as hard as I have worked in the past three years.”
Mr. Kishor said that not getting votes is not a crime as politics in Bihar is based solely on caste and religion, but he went forward with issue-based politics.
He said he has failed to understand Bihar, unlike “Nitish Kumar and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary, who divided people on caste and religious lines and bought votes of people using money”.
Mr. Kishor also alleged that ‘vote chori’ (theft of votes) happens on a pan-India level and urged national opposition parties to hold deliberations on the matter and move the Supreme Court, if needed.
In 2025 Assembly election, the NDA recorded a landslide victory by winning 202 out of 243 assembly seats in Bihar.
Published – November 18, 2025 01:24 pm IST
