Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj attempt to become Kejriwal of Bihar fraught with challenges

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor (File image)

Prashant Kishor (PK), as anticipated, has thrown his hat into the muddy waters of Bihar politics. Though he stopped short of launching a political party, it is now a foregone conclusion.

In Bihar’s multi-party system (212 parties contested the 2020 state elections) and caste ridden politics, creating a niche for himself will not be easy.

However, at the same time, the landlocked state indeed needs a new vision and direction as it has been languishing at the bottom in most of the socio-economic parameters, despite some good work on these fronts by both Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar.

PK hopes his padayatra, like that of his client Jagan Reddy in Andhra, will increase his accessibility and visibility, help him understand the issues on the ground, and meet with like-minded individuals to build a roadmap for a new, prosperous Bihar. But politics is a difficult business and it could take PK years to position himself without any guarantee of success.

Bihar has three strong parties in Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party. Even Congress has a decent presence in the state. Then you have many small parties like the LJP, CPIML, HAM, VIP, etc which represent various caste/class groups.

The non-NDA (National Democratic Alliance), and non-Mahagathbandhan parties together bagged a 25 percent vote share in the 2020 state elections. Amidst all this, it won’t be easy for PK to gain his footing in the state.

Earlier attempts by educated/young leaders have failed. London-based Pushpam Priya Choudhary, daughter of a JDU leader, formed a political party ‘Plurals’, and contested the 2020 elections. It ran full-page advertisements published in almost all newspapers in the state promising to give Bihar wings. The party got just a 0.3 percent vote share with its Chief Minister (CM) candidate (Priya) losing by more than 77,000 votes.

The switch from a strategist/advisor to a political leader won’t be a cakewalk for PK. Political parties take years to establish and he will have to slog it out, show serious intent, stay put in the hinterland, and be prepared for a long haul, even setbacks.

PK is a Brahmin and the state hasn’t seen a Brahmin CM in the last three decades, the last being Jagannath Mishra from 1989 to 1990. The state is today a hotbed of backward caste politics.

In this scenario, his acceptability amongst OBCs/Dalits could be low unless the state moves to vote beyond caste considerations, which looks difficult in the short term.

With PK there is also a trust deficit factor. He had launched a similar initiative called “Bihar Ki Baat” in February 2020 which never took off.  He gave the excuse of COVID in a recent press conference but he has been busy campaigning for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and helping IPAC get a contract in Goa/Telangana during the pandemic.

In the meanwhile, he was also vying for a position in Congress. Had his talks with Congress not failed, we would have not seen his love and dedication for Bihar. Some could argue Bihar was his backup plan. So he will have to first earn the trust of people.

Here, PK could learn from Kejriwal’s model of public participation in Delhi before the 2013 state elections. Involving the public in the selection of candidates, transparently raising funds, and crowdsourcing manifesto points, are some of the measures he could adopt to generate buzz and interest.

Kejriwal benefitted from the India Against Corruption movement as there was public sentiment against UPA 2 on the issue. This is important to trigger a desire for change and deliver hope to people.

Currently, the core constituencies/voters of both NDA and Mahagathbandhan do not appear to be unhappy with the leadership. So an environment for change needs to be created.

Building an organization from scratch in an organic manner will be tough for PK. One of the key events in Bihar’s politics is the possible retirement of Nitish Kumar before the next polls and the resultant future of JDU.

He may eye this opportunity depending upon how it unfolds. Apart from the challenges mentioned, funding is going to be another issue.

Most of the Ms from his formula of 4 Ms – message, messenger, machinery, and mechanics – are missing at this point.

Amitabh Tiwari is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba.

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.