"Prashant Kishor Won't Have Any Impact In Bihar": Tejashwi Yadav To NDTV

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor – whose Jan Suraaj made his electoral debut Thursday, in the Bihar election's first phase – will have 'no impact' on its outcome, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav declared to NDTV's Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Kanwal, in an exclusive on-the-road interview from Purnia district.

Asked about the possibility Kishor could steal votes and seats - the Jan Suraaj boss spoke earlier about migrant workers, home for Chhath and the election as an 'X factror' - from the RJD, Tejashwi Yadav, responded, "This question.. about which party will damage us or who can help us… the RJD has been pushed into this narrative. Some will claim that in the last election Chirag Paswan helped us or speculate Kishor will steal votes from us in this election… but we have nothing to do with this."

"I have only belief… that we are going to form the government and Bihar will change."

READ | "People Want Change": Tejashwi Yadav To NDTV On Bihar Record Polling

Yadav's Chirag Paswan mention was a reference to tension between the BJP and JDU in the last election. Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party contested on its own, but the JDU was disgruntled over what it felt was the BJP's covert backing of that party, which caused it to lose votes. Nitish Kumar dropped 28 seats compared to its 2015 haul and to 'junior' status in the NDA, though he himself kept his position.

The argument then was that Paswan's 'solo' run took away nearly 5.7 per cent votes from the BJP-led alliance, which dropped a total of 7.84 per cent compared to five years ago. At the same time, the opposition Mahagathbandhan, led by the RJD, picked up nearly nine per cent more than it got in 2015.

This time, many believe the Jan Suraj is in that 'LJP role', having fielded candidates for all 243 seats, an ambitious move by a party in its first election and looking to create a viable 'third front'.

Can Prashant Kishor, poll strategist and Jan Suraaj boss, be a changemaker?

And after a record high voter turnout in the first phase, Kishor declared "change is coming to Bihar", tellling news agency ANI, "A new system is going to be established on November 14 (counting day)."

But can Kishor and his Jan Suraaj really be a changemaker?

In an election special, Bihar Battleground, this week, NDTV spoke to psephologists, experts and political leaders to analyse this point and dissected the 'Kishor factor' with hard data.

READ | Prashant Kishor: X Factor, Spoiler Or An Also-Ran? A Breakdown

And that data suggests Kishor's Jan Suraaj could play spoilsport equally, stealing votes from both coalitions, particularly since he seems to have traction among the young and the educated middle-class in a state that is desperately searching for jobs and an economic makeover.

Yadav, the opposition alliance's chief ministerial candidate, also dismissed Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and indicated the battle for Bihar will come down to the two big alliances – the ruling coalition led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United and Bharatiya Janata Party, and the opposition Mahagathbandhan, fronted by his Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.

The first phase of polling was held for 121 of the state's 243 seats. Voter turnout was a record 64.66 per cent, the most in Bihar's history, and that has been seen by Yadav as a positive sign.

READ | Bihar Sees Highest-Ever Voter Turnout Of 64.66% In Phase 1

Conventional wisdom does suggests high turnouts are a sign of anti-incumbency, i.e., the ruling party or coalition will be ejected, but that is not always true, as the BJP proved in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh over the past couple of years. Yadav, nevertheless, remained optimistic.

"I have positive feedback from everywhere. People want change… They want a Bihar free from corruption; they want Bihar to be a hub of IT, textiles, food processing, agro-based industry."

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