- Prashant Kishor told NDTV that Jan Suraaj Party’s poll loss in Bihar a huge shock
- Jan Suraaj shifted Bihar election discourse from caste and religion to jobs and migration, he said
- He said the Rs 10,000 assistance given to women proved to be a key factor in the polls
The Jan Suraaj Party's rout in the Bihar Assembly polls was a "huge shock", its leader Prashant Kishor told NDTV today, adding that he has not slept properly since the poll results were declared last week. In Walk The Talk with NDTV's Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Kanwal, Kishor said he would continue his efforts in Bihar's political arena and repeated the saying, "You are not defeated till you quit".
READ: "Rs 10,000 To Women Big Factor In Bihar Verdict": Prashant Kishor Exclusive
This is the poll strategist-turned-politician's first interview after the Jan Suraaj Party's dismal show in its maiden election.
Asked about the results, Kishor said that while his party's attempts did not yield electoral success, they managed to take the political discourse in Bihar away from just caste and religion to issues such as employment and migration.
READ: "May Be Mistake For Me To Not Contest Bihar Polls": Prashant Kishor To NDTV
Kishor said the four key voter groups in Bihar comprise those voting in the name of caste, those voting in the name of religion, those voting for the NDA because they are scared of Lalu Yadav's return, and those voting for the opposition because they are scared of the BJP. Jan Suraaj, he said, was able to dent the first and second groups, but could not influence the third and fourth groups.
"BJP Had Two MPs Once"
The Jan Suraaj Party leader said he was not giving up. "The BJP too had just two MPs once. When you make a party, such results can come, but are the people of Prashant Kishor and Jan Suraaj? We did not spread the venom of caste and religion. We will try again," he said, adding that he has committed 10 years to the welfare of Bihar.
Kishor said he had not expected that Jan Suraaj would get just around 4 per cent vote share. He said that he never got a survey done before the polls, something he relied on during his work as an election strategist. "I played it blind. My estimate was that we would get 12-15 per cent of the vote share. But it came to 3.5 per cent, so we need to analyse," he said.
READ: "No Consultancy, Next 5 Years Will Focus On Bihar": Prashant Kishor To NDTV
Asked if his enthusiasm and his party's political capital last five years, Kishor replied, "I had committed 10 years to this effort in Bihar. About three and a half years have passed. Of course, I had not planned to taste success in the 10th year. We were certain that we would be successful in three years. That did not happen. We will try again."
"JDU Shouldn't Have Got More Than 25 Seats"
In the run-up to the polls, Kishor had claimed the ruling JDU won't win more than 25 seats, but the Nitish Kumar-led party bagged 85 seats. Asked about the claim, he pointed to the Rs 10,000 self-employment assistance extended to 1.2 crore women ahead of the polls. He said the state government spent over Rs 100 crore in each of the 243 constituencies.
"I firmly believe the JDU shouldn't have won more than 25 seats. But now that they have 'won' 80 plus, people are telling me 'your analysis was wrong'. It looks wrong on the surface... but, if you look closely, one of the factors is that the government gave Rs 100 crore to Rs 125 crore to the people (before voting) and, of this amount, 60,000 to 62,000 people were given Rs 10,000 each," he said.
