Prashant Kishore

The primary focus of the campaign will be to counter the 'anti-incumbency' narrative created by Opposition parties in the state against AAP

Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor has said Bihar is "literally a failed state" which is in "deep shit" and tremendous efforts are required for its all-round development. In a virtual interaction with the Bihari diaspora community after the launch of the US chapter of the Jan Suraaj, the former poll strategist exuded confidence that his party would win the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls and said that he would lift the ban on alcohol and use the revenue to improve school education. "We have to realise that this (Bihar) is a state which is in deep shit. If Bihar were a country, it would be the 11th largest country in terms of population in the world. We have just overtaken Japan in terms of population," Kishor told the gathering. He said the biggest challenge is that society has become "hopeless" about improving the situation of Bihar. "When you become hopeless, the immediate survival needs become so overpowering that nothing (else) matters," he said. However, Kishor said, not all is ...

The ruling NDA in Bihar on Saturday swept the bypolls to four assembly segments, retaining Imamganj and wresting from the INDIA bloc Tarari, Ramgarh and Belaganj, receiving a boost ahead of the assembly elections due next year. Candidates of the Jan Suraaj, floated recently by former political strategist Prashant Kishor with much fanfare, lost deposits in all but one seat, in a clear indication that the fledgling party, despite claims of taking the political landscape in the state by storm, needs to cover much ground. The biggest setback for the INDIA bloc, helmed by the RJD, came in Belaganj, a seat the party had been winning since its inception in the 1990s, but this time lost to the JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the arch-rival of its founding president Lalu Prasad. The JD(U) candidate Manorama Devi, a former MLC, defeated by a margin of more than 21,000 votes RJD's Vishwanath Kumar Singh who made his debut from a seat that fell vacant upon election to Lok Sabha of

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced the launch of his political outfit Jan Suraaj Party, a much-anticipated move by which he hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm. The party was launched at Veterinary College Ground in the state capital in presence of many renowned figures, including former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma and ex-MP Monazir Hassan. The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state, from Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the first Satyagraha in the country, in a bid to mobilise the people for a "new political alternative" that could cure Bihar of its chronic backwardness.

As political strategist Prashant Kishor looks to shape his 'Jan Suraj' campaign into a political party, he is keen to shake off any perception linking the new organisation with any particular voting bloc by incorporating proportional number of representatives from various social groups in line with their population share. The new party, which will be formed on October 2 in Bihar, will have a 25-member central committee, with proportional representation from the general category, other backward classes (OBCs), extremely backward classes (EBCs), scheduled castes and minorities, 'Jan Suraj' representatives have said. They had earlier said that equal representation would be made from these communities before revising their statement to say that these social blocks will have their share in line with their population in the overall census. The Bihar government had recently carried out a caste survey to find out the number of different communities. The 25 members will elect a leader of th

The most significant aspect of his annoucement is that the he would launch his political outfit ahead of Bihar assembly polls

LIVE updates: PM Modi's Madhya Pradesh campaign ahead of LS polls, AAP leaders to sit on a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar, and more. Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Validating the BJP's claims, eminent political strategist Prashant Kishor said the ruling party will add significantly to its seats and vote share in south and east India, the two regions where its hold is weak-to-non-existent, barring Karnataka. In an interaction with PTI editors, Kishor also said despite the BJP's apparent dominance, neither the party nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible, pointing out that the opposition had three distinct and realistic chances of stopping the BJP juggernaut but frittered away the opportunities because of laziness and misplaced strategies. "They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing. They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal," he said. In Tamil he said, BJP's vote share may hit double-digit percentage. Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala ...

During 'Jan Samwad' with common people in Yogapatti block of West Champaran on Friday, Kishor said that the 32 km road connecting Nawalpur to district headquarter Bettiah was not constructed for 15 yr

Continuing his tirade against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Wednesday said that he would not work for the JD(U) supremo even if the latter "vacates the CM's chair" for him. Kishor had on Tuesday claimed that he spurned a recent request by Kumar to "lead" the Janata Dal (United). Addressing a gathering at Jamunia village in West Champaran district during the day, as part on his ongoing 3,500-km-long 'Jan Suraaj' padyatra, Kishor said, "When I met Nitish Kumar a few days ago, he asked me to re-join JD(U) and work with him. 'You are my political heir', the CM told me asking to withdraw my campaign." "I categorically told the CM that I will not work with him even if he (Nitish Kumar) makes me his political heir or.vacates the chair of CM for me. I said no....I have made a promise to the peopleit can't be changed," the 45-year-old former national vice-president of JD(U) added. Kishor was inducted into the JD(U) in 2018 by Kumar.

Former political strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday said that Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' should have started from Gujarat or any other BJP-ruled state. He was speaking on the sidelines of a program where he met local leaders and activists supporting the cause of the separate Vidarbha state. "It would have been better had the Congress started its Bharat Jodo Yatra from Gujarat where elections are due later this year, or other BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh," Kishor told PTI when asked about the ongoing campaign. The Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, began from Tamil Nadu. Notably, there was a buzz earlier this year about Kishor joining the Congress, but he later said that he declined the offer to head its election strategy. Interacting with pro-Vidarbha supporters, he called for a united effort by people of the region to realize the dream of a separate state. Former BJP MLA Ashish Deshmukh had organized the programme to formulate a strategy to achieve ...

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor hit back at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday, a day after the JD(U) supremo accused him of trying to help BJP and not knowing "ABC" of politics and governance. Kishor, who has launched "Jan Suraaj", a campaign that is likely to evolve into a political party, said it was "laughable" for Kumar to issue "certificates" given that he was with the BJP till a month ago. "Age is catching up with him. If he has divined that I want to help the BJP, it is his intellectual greatness (vidvata)," Kishor told reporters here sarcastically. "Nitish Kumar must be the only educated person around to have said people like me do not know ABC. He knows from A to Z. He should share the knowledge with NITI Aayog which keeps counting Bihar among the least-developed states," the IPAC founder said, tongue in cheek. Kishor also said that if Kumar was able to deliver on his promise of creating 10 lakh jobs, which he made after ruling the state fo

"Nitish ji had recently told officials of road construction department that they must tell the people about the condition of roads in the state", Kishor tweeted

The Jan Suraaj campaign is kicking off from Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in West Champaran district on October 2 this year and he will do a Padyatra of 3,000 km across Bihar

Event could make or break party and people concerned are conscious of this

The proposal to rope Kishor into the Congress was enthusiastically backed by Priyanka Gandhi, but supporters within the party owing allegiance to Rahul Gandhi were less than enthusiastic about it

Amid speculation about Prashant Kishor joining the Congress, the election strategist held talks with ruling TRS president and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao over two days

In an important presentation to the Congress top brass, Kishor has in his theme of "Reincarnation of Congress" talked about 'Preserving the soul, Creating a new body'

IPAC led by political strategist Prashant Kishor has an agenda of its own and may be betraying West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress' Dinesh Gundu Rao said

NCP chief Sharad Pawar is working to unite all opposition leaders, party spokesperson Nawab Malik said while commenting on a meeting of Pawar with political strategist Prashant Kishor