Prashant Kishor is now going to step into direct politics. Till now he was working behind the scenes. There used to be someone else as the face, he used to do the preparations and necessary arrangements himself. If Prashant Kishor, who once gave the slogan ‘Bihar mein bahar hai, Nitishe Kumar hai’ is to be believed, then now he will do everything himself, but will not become the face. The face will still be someone else, and there will not be just one face, rather the faces will keep changing.
Prashant Kishor, who emerged as the country’s biggest election strategist 10 years ago, set out on the Jan Suraj Yatra in Bihar on 2 October 2022 – and exactly two years later, on the same October 2, he is going to launch a political party by the name of Jan Suraj.
During his padayatra as the founder of Jan Suraj, Prashant Kishore is visiting villages and meeting people of Bihar and constantly raising local issues like youth migration, education and health – and during this time, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Yadav’s family, especially Tejashwi Yadav, have often been seen on his target.
Prashant Kishor, popularly known as PK, is also entering politics as a completely new player, just like Arvind Kejriwal once did. Arvind Kejriwal entered politics through a movement against corruption, and Prashant Kishor is also presenting his journey as a movement – one thing is common between both of them, both are talking about politics and changing the situation with its help.
How different will Prashant Kishor’s political party be from others?
In a recent conversation with India Today, Prashant Kishor had said, ‘I give it in writing… Jansuraj will win on its own in the 2025 elections… and even if it doesn’t, you can still ask me.’
Whatever Prashant Kishor claims, even Arvind Kejriwal could not do this. Arvind Kejriwal did defeat the then Chief Minister Sheila Dixit in the elections, but the Aam Aadmi Party could not get a majority on its own. It was second after BJP, and formed the government for the first time with Congress, which came third.
During the Jan Suraj Yatra, after the whole of Bihar formed its own organization, Prashant Kishore was telling the office-bearers of Jan Suraj, all of you have not come to meet us, because we met you in your homes in your villages.
According to Prashant Kishor, about one crore members will lay the foundation of Jan Suraj on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. The first day will begin with the nomination of 1.50 lakh people as office bearers. The tenure of the president of Jan Suraj will be one year – and in a period of five years, 5 presidents will be elected from different sections. The first president will be from the Dalit community.
It is worth noting that Prashant Kishor has distanced himself from the leadership race. It is said that only those people can claim the post of president who are capable of bringing 5000 people into the party. The 7-member empowered committee of Jan Suraj will take the final decision on this.
Prashant Kishor says that there are 5 groups in the society- General, OBC, EBC, SC, ST and Muslim. The Dalit community is the most deprived, so the first president of Jan Suraj will come from the Dalit class.
Kejriwal had experience of leading a movement, PK doesn’t
Prashant Kishor says to Jan Suraj workers, you have associated yourself with those people who were agitating for a better option for Bihar, but due to lack of option, they have come together.
It is true that Arvind Kejriwal did not launch a jail bharo aandolan like JP, nor did he face a situation like emergency, but before entering politics, he had organised many street protests.
Prashant Kishor has been travelling for two years. He is among the people. He is making them aware of the reality. He is trying to explain that the current political leadership is not thinking about them. They are not thinking about the future of their children.
In Prashant Kishore’s speeches, more emphasis is given to Nitish Kumar being old, Congress being useless and Tejaswi Yadav being a ninth class failure – people like to hear all this, but this does not become the basis for voting – Yes, Prashant Kishore has talked about change, but like Arvind Kejriwal, he has not raised any dream-like hope so far.
PK definitely faces a crisis of political credibility
By the time Arvind Kejriwal entered politics, people had a lot of faith in him. The same cannot be said about Prashant Kishor. People believe that PK works for politicians by taking money. And he takes a lot of money for his work. He has earned a lot by campaigning for elections. How much money did PK get, or from where did he get it, this question always remains in people’s minds – and it should be assumed that this question will definitely be asked in the elections and PK will have to answer it.
Prashant Kishor once said, when he was the vice-president of JDU, that if I can help in becoming CM and PM, then I can also make the youth of Bihar Mukhiya, MLA and MP. After his statement, JDU leaders attacked him, but what was he saying wrong. This is his USP – and it would be good if he always remembers this.
Okay, PK will not be the president, but who will be the face of Jan Suraj?
PK says that he will not lead the Jan Suraj, but leaders will be selected from their respective constituencies, who will strengthen the power of the people for the assembly elections to be held in the state.
Practically this is also correct. One thing is certain that it will be difficult for PK to become the Chief Minister himself. PK will have to declare the face of the Chief Minister beforehand. Fighting elections and getting others to fight are quite different. Till now PK has been successful in the name of leaders. It is possible that the situation in Bihar may be similar to the circumstances in which PK has been making his clients win elections, but the face will be very important.
Even if BJP and Congress do this, the face of Modi or Rahul Gandhi is in front of the people, or their local leaders are also seen on the front and people think that it must be one of them.
The political situations in Bihar and Delhi are completely different
There are people from Purvanchal in Delhi too, but people from all over the country live here. Casteism has its roots deep in Bihar. Political equations there are based on caste, and religion also has an influence.
Till now, Lalu Yadav’s M-Y equation and Nitish Kumar’s Luv-Kush equation have been dominant in Bihar. Being a Brahmin, it is difficult for Prashant Kishor to break into the fort of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar. Now Tejaswi has entered the fray in place of Lalu. And BJP is trying to gain a foothold with the support of Nitish.
It cannot be said that nothing changed in Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal came, but it is also true that the dreams shown, the expectations, the hopes that were there, nothing happened like that. Arvind Kejriwal also took the path of traditional politics – and the result is in front of us.
It is not necessary that Prashant Kishor will also disappoint like Arvind Kejriwal, so it becomes important that Prashant Kishor should not be rejected before he gets a chance. Pushpam Priya is also an example in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, and you must remember Irom Sharmila, known as the Iron Lady of Manipur – Prashant Kishor should definitely try to learn from their experiences before moving forward.
PK’s idea is good. But it will take some time for people to understand it. We will create such a system for ourselves and our children that people will be surprised. This is because those who were earlier insulted by calling them ‘Bihari’, they are the ones who can create such a great system.