Prashant Kishor rules out alliances after Bankipur win, says BJP voters backed him
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday ruled out joining any political alliance after his victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, saying
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday ruled out joining any political alliance after his victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, saying his party's alliance would be with the people of the state. Kishor defeated BJP's Neeraj Kumar by 18,953 votes in his electoral debut, winning 63,203 votes against Kumar's 44,250. The victory gives Jan Suraaj its first seat in the Bihar Assembly and ends the BJP's run in the constituency, which it had held since 1995. Read Full Story "We shall have no alliance. Our alliance shall be with the people of Bihar. You should see that the people of Bankipur have voted for us, giving up on established parties," Kishor told reporters after the result. Asked whether he would reconsider his earlier decision to contest elections without an alliance, Kishor said he would not. 'BJP, CONGRESS, RJD VOTERS BACKED US' Kishor credited his victory to support from voters and workers who were unhappy with their respective parties, including the BJP, Congress and RJD. "I would like to thank my active supporters as well as those who backed me in the by-election, despite not being with Jan Suraaj. I received support from people in BJP, Congress and RJD, who were unhappy with the state of affairs in their party," he said. Kishor had described the Bankipur bypoll as a "referendum" on the BJP-led government in Bihar. He also suggested that the atmosphere created by recent Gen Z protests may have contributed to the result.
"The atmosphere created by Gen Z protests" might have played a role, he said, but added that there was little evidence of a large turnout among young voters in Bankipur. "There is nothing to show that young electors had voted in large numbers in Bankipur. It is unfortunate, but that is the reality," Kishor said. Turnout in the July 30 bypoll was below 35 per cent. KISHOR CALLS RESULT A REJECTION OF SAMRAT CHOUDHARY Kishor also claimed that the mandate was primarily against Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. He said the verdict was a mandate "against whom I have nothing personal, but who is detested by educated people of Bihar because of criminal antecedents and lack of qualifications". Kishor called the result a wake-up call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that if Choudhary's selection was linked to his Kushwaha caste, he should be replaced by someone from the same community with a "cleaner background". Choudhary, who joined the BJP less than a decade ago and became the party's first leader to head a government in Bihar, congratulated Kishor in a post on X and described the contest as "the grand festival of democracy". BJP LEADER BLAMES GROWING DISSATISFACTION A senior BJP leader attributed the defeat to growing dissatisfaction among the party's traditional upper-caste support base. "Prashant Kishor struck all the right notes. He tapped into the growing dissatisfaction among the upper castes by raising issues like the death after suspected rape of a NEET aspirant and the police encounter of Bharat Tiwari," the leader said on condition of anonymity.
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