BJP takes data-backed dig at Prashant Kishor's massive drubbing in Bihar: 'Lost deposit in ...'

Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s IT cell head Amit Malviya took to X with a sharp critique of the Jan Suraaj Party’s political debut in Bihar assembly elections, telling 'journalists and pollsters to sleep over' a list of numbers that summed up the party’s performance.

He pointed out that the new entrant fielded contenders in 238 constituencies, lost deposits in 236 of them, could not open its account, and “came second in just one.”

Malviya also noted that in 122 seats the party slid to fourth place or worse, and in 61 segments its tally was lower than NOTA.

As he posted, the total votes gathered were 16.77 lakh, translating to “3.34%” of the state’s polling figures.

For all the journalists and pollsters who thought Jan Suraj Party was going to define NDA’s fortune in Bihar, here are some data points to sleep over:

Total seats contested - 238
Lost deposit in - 236
Won zero seats!
Came second in just one.
Finished below third position (4th…

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) November 16, 2025

After the poll debacle, Jan Suraaj leaders Uday Singh and Pawan Verma have been speaking to the media to clarify its stance on the poll results and what it means for future.

In Patna, party president Uday Singh said in a conversation with ANI that founder Prashant Kishor “will continue to be there (in Bihar),” adding that the organisation was not created at the insistence of any other party and would not exit under external pressure either.

According to Singh, “We can think of leaving only when we feel that a change has set in in Bihar.” He also alleged that the ruling coalition’s “cash distribution” exercise influenced the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s sweeping mandate.

Singh argued that such a move “will put pressure on Bihar’s economy” and raised doubts about how the state would eventually navigate what he described as a debt burden.

Despite the drubbing, Singh insisted that the party was sticking to its roadmap. “We are not disheartened,” he said, claiming that the leadership understood the path ahead and would work toward the “Bihar badlav” it had promised.

Hailing JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the "X factor" behind NDA's landslide victory in asembly polls, Jan Suraaj spokesperson Pavan Varma said people did not want the "Jungle Raaj" to return and hence decided to consolidate the "existing forces" that could stop the RJD.

The Jan Suraaj Party, formed by election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor and formally launched on October 2, 2024, had campaigned across almost the entire state.

Yet its debut was overshadowed by the NDA’s emphatic win in the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls. The NDA crossed the 200-seat mark for only the second time, finishing with 202 of 243 seats.

Within the alliance, the BJP won 89 seats, while the (JD(U)) claimed 85. Other partners also chipped in LJPRV with 19, HAMS with 5, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha with 4.

The opposition bloc faced severe reverses. The RJD managed 25 seats, CPI(ML)(L) secured 2, IIP got 1, and CPI(M) won 1. New political entrants like Jan Suraaj were swept aside in what many analysts described as a “tsunami” in favour of the NDA.

Data examined from the Election Commission and analyses by News18 showed that Kishor’s party mustered under 18 lakh votes and relinquished deposits in 236 out of 238 seats.

It was runner-up only in Marhaura, its strongest showing with 58,190 votes, though it still trailed the RJD candidate, who earned 86,118.

In contrast, the party finished third in 126 seats -- reaching over 35,000 votes in Chanpatia (37,172) and Jokihat (35,354) -- and in races like Atri, Parbatta, Raghunathpur, and Maner, its third-place tallies hovered just above 3,000.

However, the party did prevent the BJP from securing  its record victory in history as it won 89 out of 101 seats this election, which is two seats less than its 2010 record of 91.

In the tight Dhaka contest, the BJP lost by only 178 votes while Jan Suraaj picked up 8,347 votes, and in Ramgarh the BJP was edged out by 30 votes as the Jan Suraaj nominee drew 4,426.

Meanwhile, NOTA outpaced the party in at least 54 constituencies.

In Pipra, NOTA reached 10,691 compared to the party’s 5,519; in Dhamdaha it was 6,781 against 1,804; in Mahishi, 6,671 against 2,571; and in Kanti, 7,823 against 4,251.

In four seats the gap narrowed to under 100 votes -- Ghosi saw NOTA finish with 3,073 to Jan Suraaj’s 3,070, while Barari, Kochadhaman, and Gopalpur recorded margins of 21, 63, and 81 respectively.

The party ended with around 3.4% of the state’s vote share. Historical comparisons were less flattering: in their inaugural electoral tests, larger parties such as the RJD and JD(U) had drawn well over a quarter of the vote.

The RJD, founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav, contested on 293 seats in the 2000 elections and secured 28.34% votes, winning 124 seats.