Prashant Kishor rules out alliances after Bankipur win, says BJP voters backed him

Prashant Kishor won the Bankipur bypoll and ruled out joining any political alliance in Bihar. The result gives Jan Suraaj its first Assembly seat and sharpens pressure on the BJP-led government.

In Short

• Disgruntled BJP, Congress and RJD supporters helped fuel Kishor's breakthrough win
• Jan Suraaj now enters the Bihar Assembly for the first time
• Kishor linked the result partly to Gen Z protest momentum

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday ruled out joining any political alliance after his victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, saying his party's alliance would be with the people of the state.

Kishor defeated BJP's Neeraj Kumar by 18,953 votes in his electoral debut, winning 63,203 votes against Kumar's 44,250. The victory gives Jan Suraaj its first seat in the Bihar Assembly and ends the BJP's run in the constituency, which it had held since 1995.

"We shall have no alliance. Our alliance shall be with the people of Bihar. You should see that the people of Bankipur have voted for us, giving up on established parties," Kishor told reporters after the result.

Asked whether he would reconsider his earlier decision to contest elections without an alliance, Kishor said he would not.

'BJP, CONGRESS, RJD VOTERS BACKED US'

Kishor credited his victory to support from voters and workers who were unhappy with their respective parties, including the BJP, Congress and RJD.

"I would like to thank my active supporters as well as those who backed me in the by-election, despite not being with Jan Suraaj. I received support from people in BJP, Congress and RJD, who were unhappy with the state of affairs in their party," he said.

Kishor had described the Bankipur bypoll as a "referendum" on the BJP-led government in Bihar. He also suggested that the atmosphere created by recent Gen Z protests may have contributed to the result.

"The atmosphere created by Gen Z protests" might have played a role, he said, but added that there was little evidence of a large turnout among young voters in Bankipur.

"There is nothing to show that young electors had voted in large numbers in Bankipur. It is unfortunate, but that is the reality," Kishor said.

Turnout in the July 30 bypoll was below 35 per cent.

KISHOR CALLS RESULT A REJECTION OF SAMRAT CHOUDHARY

Kishor also claimed that the mandate was primarily against Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.

He said the verdict was a mandate "against whom I have nothing personal, but who is detested by educated people of Bihar because of criminal antecedents and lack of qualifications".

Kishor called the result a wake-up call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that if Choudhary's selection was linked to his Kushwaha caste, he should be replaced by someone from the same community with a "cleaner background".

Choudhary, who joined the BJP less than a decade ago and became the party's first leader to head a government in Bihar, congratulated Kishor in a post on X and described the contest as "the grand festival of democracy".

BJP LEADER BLAMES GROWING DISSATISFACTION

A senior BJP leader attributed the defeat to growing dissatisfaction among the party's traditional upper-caste support base.

"Prashant Kishor struck all the right notes. He tapped into the growing dissatisfaction among the upper castes by raising issues like the death after suspected rape of a NEET aspirant and the police encounter of Bharat Tiwari," the leader said on condition of anonymity.

The leader also said remarks by BJP figures had compounded the problem, referring to Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad's comment that Bankipur was a seat "we can win even if a dog or a cat was fielded as the BJP candidate".

"The Gen Z protests highlighted our weakening support among the youth, especially the upper castes, who have been our core base. They had been unhappy over the controversial UGC regulations and, now, they have begun to feel that we are taking them for granted," the BJP leader said.

OPPOSITION SEES BJP DEFEAT

Leaders of INDIA bloc parties stopped short of congratulating Kishor but described the result as a setback for the BJP.

CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya called it "an emphatic victory against the BJP" and said the result, coming against the backdrop of the Jantar Mantar protests, indicated "a welcome shift in public mood".

Congress spokesperson Suman Kumar Mallick said Bankipur voters had sent a message against "the arrogance of power and autocracy".

"If Parliamentary elections are held today, Modi government will definitely be voted out," he said.

RJD spokesperson Chitaranjan Gagan, whose party candidate Rekha Gupta finished third, said the key point was that the BJP had lost.

"We are not dejected and will work with renewed vigour to ensure the overthrow of the NDA from Bihar as well as the Centre," he said.

Veteran socialist leader Shivanand Tiwary, meanwhile, called on the INDIA bloc to approach Kishor.

"Prashant Kishor's energy and organisational abilities have been there for all to see. The INDIA bloc must approach him. The victory in Bankipur must be viewed in a larger perspective," Tiwary said.

Recalling the student protests, Tiwary said the recent demonstrations at Jantar Mantar, across Bihar and elsewhere were far bigger than the 1974 movement, adding that today's student activists were showing "far superior acumen" than in his time.

JAN SURAaj GETS FIRST ASSEMBLY SEAT

The Bankipur victory marks Jan Suraaj's first electoral success after the party drew a blank in last year's Bihar Assembly election.

Kishor, who gave up political consultancy in 2021, has now entered the Bihar Assembly as an elected representative and secured a victory over a BJP candidate in a constituency the party had held for three decades.

He said he would not make "tall promises" such as turning Bankipur into Bengaluru, but promised to work towards improving the constituency and said changes would be visible within a few months.

The bypoll was necessitated after fifth-term MLA Nitin Nabin resigned from Bankipur following his election to the Rajya Sabha after being elevated as the BJP's national president.

With Jan Suraaj opening its account in the Bihar Assembly, Kishor's first electoral victory has also set the stage for a new political force in the state, even as he maintains that the party will continue to contest without alliances.

- Ends
With PTI inputs