Poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) failed to open an account in the Bihar Assembly polls, even though it contested all the seats in its debut electoral fray. A majority of the JSP candidates in 238 constituencies also forfeited their security deposit.
Positioned as a revolutionary third alternative to the ruling NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc, the party, floated by the former political strategist, failed to galvanise votes in its favour, despite a high-pitched campaign and raising pressing issues such as unemployment, migration and dearth of industries.
In many seats, the party’s vote count was less than the NOTA (None of the Above) category. Kishor had earlier asserted his party would either be on the top or at the bottom in the seat tally, but that there is no middle ground in the Bihar polls.
The 47-year-old had launched the party, with much fanfare, about a year ago, after a “pada yatra” that saw him marching across the length and breadth of Bihar over several months.
