How Prashant Kishor is laying the groundwork for a new political party in Bihar

Kishor, set off on his padyatra on October 2, 2022 from Bhitiharwa – Mahatma Gandhi’s karmabhoomi – in West Champaran district.

Political strategist Prashant Kishor has been making headlines with his predictions for the upcoming general election. As part of a detailed interview with news agency PTI, kishor has generated interest with his state-specific readings and the big bold claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party is unlikely to cross the 370-mark on its own.

The Congress was quick to counter Kishore’s prediction in West Bengal and southern states, calling it ludicrous. His specific observation on the poll outcome in West Bengal and southern states set off debates among the political fraternity. The former consultant said the BJP could come "number 1" in West Bengal and make substantial inroads in southern states.

For over a year, the former political consultant has been touring the state of Bihar, in an attempted mass outreach through his Jan Suraaj Padyatra. Emancipating Bihar from the 32-year “misrule” of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar and establishing ‘jan suraaj’ (‘people’s rule’) in the state are the central themes of Kishor’s padyatra (foot march), which entered its 19th month in April 2024.

Kishor, known for his role in shaping election campaigns and strategies for various political parties, claims to have had his fill of professional consultancy and that he wants to help his home state Bihar come out of the quagmire of economic stagnation.

While the former poll strategist has indicated several times that his ‘Jan Suraaj campaign’ may evolve into a full-fledged political party, he has ruled himself out as the leader.

Kishor, set off on his padyatra on October 2, 2022 from Bhitiharwa – Mahatma Gandhi’s karmabhoomi – in West Champaran district.

The padyatra has three main goals, including identifying the right people at grassroots and bringing them on a democratic platform, the statement said, adding it will also work towards making a vision document for Bihar by incorporating views from experts in different fields. The padyatra is likely to take anywhere between one year to one and a half years and is being widely seen to be a precursor to Prashant Kishor's fresh entry into politics.

In a  move seen to lay the groundwork for his party, Kishor said that Bihar has a lot of space for a new party as it has "maximum anti-incumbency" following the nearly 35-year rule of ideologically similar formations headed by either Lalu Prasad Yadav or Nitish Kumar.

His comments came as his ongoing 'Jan Suraaj' yatra through his home state is expected to end with the formation of a political party before the assembly polls in the latter half of the next year. Once the party takes shape, it will contest every election, Kishor said.

Having worked with many political parties in shaping their election campaigns, often successfully, before launching his 'padyatra' in Bihar with a stated goal to usher in transformative changes to boost the backward state's development, Kishor said he does not think he is doing anything drastically different.

Trained in churning and interpreting data, the former strategist tries to corroborate his statements with statistics related to the gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, malnutrition, poverty and the proportion of poor classes and marginalised castes in politics.

He underlines the extremely backward classes, who constitute the largest share of Bihar’s population at 36.01%, have no say in its economic space.

During his interactions with the media, Kishor revealed that the Congress proposed the formation of Empowered Action Group (EAG), a move he opposed. He mentioned that an EAG cannot effectively reform the party's constitutional body like the Congress Working Committee.

Drawing an analogy, Kishor likened it to a personal assistant's office attempting to reform the functioning of the chairperson, highlighting the inherent impracticality of the proposal.

Asked what role he sees for himself in the likely political formation, he likened himself to a potter collecting raw materials to build a good earthen pot.