Exclusive: 2 Reasons Why Jan Suraaj Has Good Chance In Bihar - Prashant Kishor To NDTV

Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor is already in full campaign mode for the upcoming Bihar assembly election. Mr Kishor gave two reasons why his new political outfit has a better chance this time - the declining physical and mental condition of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and the Jan Suraaj's movement's rise as a strong people-backed force.

"For us, the election isn't just about the election period. We have been working hard for three years. We walked through Bihar's villages for three-and-a-half years. After two years, we brought together one crore people and formed a group. After forming the group, we set up an organisational structure. We started our election campaign three months ago," Mr Kishor told NDTV.

"From my experience on the ground, I feel that Bihar's masses want a big change. No matter the party, caste, or religion, every supporter wants change, and in this wave of change, prominent leaders in Bihar will be swept away. This time, a new system is emerging - a system of people's self-rule," he said.

On a question about some surveys predicting a 20 per cent rise in Mr Kishor's chance of becoming chief minister, but forecasting seat wins in single digit, he said, "Every person does their work, surveyors do their job. Look at it this way - when we started Jan Suraaj, people said nothing could happen in Bihar. People doubted anything could change. Now, at least everyone is acknowledging the X-factor. Everyone is saying that to predict the Bihar election results, two things are crucial - the declining physical and mental condition of Nitish Kumar and how the Jan Suraaj movement rose as a force. Without understanding these, one can't predict the outcome."

Mr Kishor explained the math that he has done - while RJD's Lalu Yadav and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar are still big factors, the Congress is like Lalu Yadav's tail-end ally, and the BJP is Nitish Kumar's support. But Lalu Yadav is not in the campaign due to age and health, and Nitish Kumar's health is also public knowledge.

"All these factors will harm the NDA. Jan Suraaj, however, creates a new setup. Without understanding both, commenting on the election means people don't grasp the situation," he said, adding the voters of his outfit will likely be former RJD or NDA supporters, but who want change.

On his comments about the future of the BJP, who would come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Kishor said he stands by his comment about calling PM Modi a moderate compared to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"Who will be the BJP leader after PM Modi? My response is you can't predict the person, but you can see the ideological trend. When (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and LK Advani led, Vajpayee seemed liberal, Advani seemed hardline. Now, between Advani and PM Modi, Advani seems liberal, PM Modi seems hardline. But in future, Modi may seem liberal compared to Yogi Adityanath. BJP's leadership trajectory is clear. Don't focus only on people, understand the evolving ideology. To counter this, a system based on an opposing ideology is needed, and be ready for a long struggle," Mr Kishor said.

The upcoming Bihar election is preceded by the controversial special intensive revision (SIR) exercise of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear a clutch of applications seeking an extension of the September 1 deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls published by the ECI following the first phase of the SIR exercise in Bihar.

As per the cause list on the Supreme Court website, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi will take up for hearing the petitions filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other political parties seeking an extension of the ECI's deadline for submitting the claim form.

On Friday, the Justice Surya Kant-led Bench agreed to list the applications filed in the batch of pleas challenging the SIR exercise after lawyer Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter.