Prashant Kishor To Not Contest Bihar Elections, Focus On 'Organisational Work'

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced that he will not contest the Bihar assembly polls, stating the decision was made in the interest of the party’s broader goals.

"The party has decided that I should not contest the assembly polls. And therefore, the party has announced another candidate from Raghopur, against Tejashwi Yadav. It was a decision we took in the larger interest of the party. If I were to contest, it would have distracted me from the necessary organisational work", Kishor said in an interview to news agency PTI.

The election strategist-turned-politician said the party decided to field another candidate from Raghopur, where he was earlier expected to take on Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav.

"The party has decided that I should not contest the assembly polls. Accordingly, another candidate has been announced from Raghopur. It was a collective decision taken for the greater good of Jan Suraaj. Had I contested, it would have diverted my focus from crucial organisational work," Kishor said.

Asked about the party’s prospects, the 48-year-old Jan Suraaj chief asserted that the results would be emphatic in either direction. "We will either win convincingly or face a setback. I have said earlier that we will secure either fewer than 10 seats or more than 150. There is no middle ground," he said.

He dismissed the possibility of a hung assembly, stating there would be no need to consider post-poll alliances with either the NDA or the INDIA bloc.

"A tally below 150 — even if it is 120 or 130 will be a defeat for me," Kishor remarked.

"If we win big, we will have a clear mandate to transform Bihar and place it among the ten most developed states in India. If not, it would mean the people have not yet placed their full trust in us, and we shall continue our politics of the street and society," he said.

The Bihar elections will be held in two phases, on Nov. 6 and Nov. 11, and the counting will take place on Nov. 14.