New Delhi: Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on November 18, reacted to the poor electoral performance of the party in the recently concluded Bihar assembly polls.
Addressing a presser, the poll strategists turned politician Kishor, who floated his Jan Suraaj party ahead of the assembly polls stated that he failed to explain to the people of Bihar the basis on which they should vote and create a new system, adding that he will observe a day-long Maun Upvas (silent fast) on Thursday.
Kishor however stressed that there is no turning back and he will work hard to fulfil his resolve to make the state better.
“I will work twice as hard as you’ve seen me work over the past three years and put in all my energy. There’s no question of backing down. There’s no turning back until I fulfil my resolve to make Bihar better.” “I failed to explain to the people of Bihar the basis on which they should vote and why they should create a new system. Therefore, as atonement, I will observe a day-long silent fast at the Gandhi Bhitiharwa Ashram on November 20, “he said.
On being questioned that whether he will resign as the Janata Dal United (JDU) have got more than 25 seats in the polls, the Jan Suraaj leader responded by stating that he is holding no post to step down from.
“What position am I holding that I should resign? I had said that if JDU gets more than 25 seats, I will retire. From which position should I resign? I did not say that I will leave Bihar. I have left politics. I do not do politics, but I did not say that I will stop speaking for the people of Bihar…”
Kishor alleged that the Nitish Kumar led JDU wouldn’t have got more than 25 seats as predicted by him before the polls and there is only one factor which relates to allegations of buying votes by distributing money. He claimed that the JDU would have been limited to 25 seats had the state government not given Rs 10000 to over 60000 beneficiaries in each constituency under the self employment scheme.
“You are Chief Minister of the state since 20 years, so you must wash these allegations by providing self employment to 1.5 crore families in the next 6 months,” said Kishor.
He further added that he will quit politics if the government provides Rs 2 lakh each to the women beneficiaries.
“I said that if they get more than 25 seats then I will quit politics, I stand by my words but I didn’t said that votes will be bought in Rs 30000 crores. Now you are saying that votes have not been bought, then provide Rs 2 lakh each and I will quit politics,” he said.
When confronted that why he didn’t announced this pre-condition before, Kishor said he will leave Bihar let alone retiring from politics if the state government provides Rs 2 lakh each to 5-10 lakhs women out of the 1.5 crore beneficiaries of the scheme.
Kishor however admitted that his party’s efforts to bring systematic change was completely unsuccessful and there must have been some mistakes on their part due to which the people did not show faith on them.
“We made an honest effort, but it was completely unsuccessful. There’s no harm in admitting this. Forget about systematic change; we couldn’t even bring about a change in power. But we certainly played some role in changing Bihar’s politics,” he said.
#WATCH | Patna, Bihar | Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor says, "…We made an honest effort, but it was completely unsuccessful. There's no harm in admitting this. Forget about systemic change; we couldn't even bring about a change in power. But we certainly played some role in… pic.twitter.com/gw0xIlZlPn
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2025
“There must have been some mistakes in our efforts, in our thinking, in the way we explained that the public had not elected us. If the public did not show faith in us, then the responsibility for that is completely mine. I take the responsibility 100 per cent on myself, that I couldn’t win the faith of the people of Bihar,” added Kishor.
The Jan Suraaj founder however emphasised that his party has not committed any crime such as spreading caste-based poison in the society or dividing people in the name of religion. He also added that his party has not committed the crime of giving money to the poor and buying their votes.
Responding sharply to the statement made by the Jan Suraaj founder, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Sanjay Jaiswal on Tuesday asked Kishor to apologies to the people of the state.
“He was retiring from the politics even if JDU wins 25 seats. He was retiring from politics even if Nitish Kumar becomes the Chief Minister. It is strange to say something about someone who started his own political career with lies. If you work with truth, you will move ahead,” said Jaiswal.
Kishor’s Jan Suraaj contested 238 out of the 243 assembly seats of the state and failed to secure victory on a single seat with party’s candidates losing deposits on most of the seats despite an impressive electoral campaign.
The Party founded by Kishor after his prolonged Padyatra in Bihar failed to make an impressive debut in the assembly polls as it managed to secure only 3.4 per cent of the total votes polled.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP-JDU registered an empathetic win in the state assembly polls by winning 202 seats with both BJP and JDU bagging more than 80 seats each. The Mahagathbandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress party on the other hand registered victories on as many as 35 seats in the prestigious electoral contest.
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