Patna:

Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj has failed to open its account in the bypolls of four Bihar Assembly seats of Tarari, Ramgarh, Belaganj, and Imamganj.

Despite two years of groundwork, including an intensive Padyatra across Bihar and a campaign brimming with resources and manpower, Prashant Kishor lost all four seats.

Jan Suraaj candidates failed to make a significant impact, finishing third in three constituencies and one in the fourth position.

In Tarari, Jan Suraaj’s candidate Kiran Devi managed only 5,622 votes while the victorious BJP candidate Vishal Prashant secured 78,755 votes and CPI-ML candidate Raju Yadav garnered 68,143 votes.

The difference between the BJP candidate and the Jan Suraaj candidate was 73133 votes in Tarari.

In Ramgarh, Jan Suraaj candidate Sushil Kumar Singh garnered 6,513 votes while the BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Singh, secured 62,257 votes and BSP candidate Satish Yadav was closely trailing with 60,895 votes. RJD candidate Ajit Singh is further behind, trailing by 35,825 votes.

In Imamganj, Jan Suraaj candidate Jitendra Paswan secured 37,103 votes. He fell behind Deepa Manjhi, the winner by 16,332 votes.

In Belaganj, Jan Suraaj’s Mohd. Amjad, a Muslim candidate, only received 17,285 votes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Patna:

Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on Saturday lashed out at Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi for charging the newly formed political party with bribing voters in by-elections to four assembly seats of Bihar.

Mr Manjhi, who is also a former Chief Minister of Bihar, had made the allegation on Friday evening, at a rally in Imamganj which has fallen vacant upon his election to Lok Sabha and from where his daughter-in-law Deepa is trying her luck as the candidate of his Hindustani Awam Morcha.

“The Jan Suraaj people are making people sign forms pledging support for the party in the by-polls. The voters have been promised cash reward of Rs one lakh each in the event of Jan Suraaj candidate’s victory”, Mr Manjhi had said.

When asked about the charge, Prashant Kishor, who was on the campaign trail in Tarari, shot back “Does Manjhi realise what he is saying? In almost every assembly segment, there are about two lakh voters. If we are promising to give Rs one lakh to each of them, you can do the math and figure out the total sum involved”.

Prashant Kishor added “if Manjhi is convinced that we are sitting on such a huge pile of money, then, being a Union minister, he should get the ED and the CBI unleashed after us. He should also draw the attention of the Election Commission”.

The political strategist turned activist claimed the 80 years old had suffered “a loss of mental balance” on account of the realisation that “the real fight in Imamganj is between RJD and Jan Suraaj”.

“For Manjhi, politics has been all about his family. But in the very constituency which he believes to be his stronghold, his own daughter-in-law is struggling to be one of the main contenders”, claimed Prashant Kishor.

The IPAC founder, who claims to have given up on political consultancy for good, floated the new party earlier this month, vowing to win the Bihar assembly polls next year on its own steam.

The party is also contesting the by-polls to all four assembly seats – Imamganj, Tarari, Belaganj and Ramgarh – which have been necessitated by election of respective MLAs to Lok Sabha.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor has punched a hole in Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav’s claim that Bihar has been lagging in key development indicators despite having a “double-engine” government.

Mr Yadav had yesterday alleged the BJP is only power-hungry and neglects the public’s concerns.

“Bihar is number one in unemployment, poverty, inflation and in corruption… Bihar is also number one in crime… Despite having a government at the centre and state, nothing has been corrected… BJP people are greedy for power only. They have nothing to do with the public,” said Mr Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly.

He called Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a “tired chief minister”. The statement came after Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Singh alleged Mr Yadav kept silent when Hindus in Bangladesh were attacked, and called it “appeasement politics.”

A day later, Prashant Kishor, the former election strategist for many political parties and now who heads the aspiring party Jan Suraaj, said it is “laughable” when Mr Yadav speaks about development.

“I may give comments if Tejashwi Yadav spoke on caste, extortion, liquor mafia, crime… but if Tejashwi Yadav discusses development model, it is laughable. They have been in power for the last 15 years. He does not know what GDP and GDP growth are, and is talking about the development story of Bihar,” Mr Kishor told reporters.

“As far as crime is concerned, when Tejashwi Yadav was the Deputy Chief Minister six months ago, Bihar was Switzerland for him and after six months Bihar has become a gutter… If today Nitish Kumar joins Mahagathbandhan, Bihar will again start looking great to him…” Mr Kishor said.

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: On RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor says, “Comments can be made if Tejashwi Yadav speaks on caste, extortion, liquor mafia, crime… but if Tejashwi Yadav discusses development model, it is laughable. They have been in power for… pic.twitter.com/EuABlaR91l

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2024

He has said his new outfit Jan Suraaj will contest the Bihar assembly election 2025.

Mr Kishor had once worked with Nitish Kumar, but in January the former election strategist called the Bihar Chief Minister “paltumaar” and said flip-flops have become a part of his politics. Experts have speculated the Jan Suraaj may back some candidates in the next Bihar election.

Bihar has been demanding a special economic package from the centre. The Union Budget 2024 announced a Rs 58.9-crore growth package for Bihar.

With inputs from ANI