New Delhi: In a gap of little over two months, Prashant Kishor’s yet-to-launch Jan Suraaj party has earned the tag of ‘B team’ of rival parties for the second time in Bihar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has attacked Kishor and dubbed his Jan Suraaj as the RJD’s ‘B’ team, a charge that was levelled against it earlier by the opposition party.
“Another pro-Muslim party has emerged in Indian politics. This time in Bihar! As soon as any Hindu leader wears a cap or a net cap, it should be understood that he does not want the welfare of Muslims but only their votes. In Bihar, Jan Suraaj and RJD are two sides of the same coin. BJP and NDA are the only nationalist options,” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya posted Tuesday in Hindi on ‘X’.
That the BJP is targeting Kishor comes as no surprise since its launch is taking place on 2 October ahead of the next year’s Bihar polls. On the face of it, Malviya’s diatribe had its reason—Kishor’s promise to field at least 40 Muslim candidates in proportion to their population in Bihar. But, what keeps the BJP uneasy more than the ‘Muslim appeasement’ is the fear of the upper castes gravitating towards him.
As Kishor harps on unemployment and jobs, the BJP is keeping a close watch on his moves. His announcement in July to field 40 women candidates will directly affect the vote bank of both the BJP and its ally, the Janata Dal (United) or the JD(U).
Further, his organisational preparedness as seen in the announcement to launch the Jan Suraaj with 1 crore members has seemingly “unnerved” the BJP brass. This comes in a year when the BJP lost five Lok Sabha seats—Patliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Aurangabad, and Sasaram—despite the popularity of PM Narendra Modi.
Interestingly, Kishor’s Sunday announcement was construed as the former election strategist’s plan to target the RJD’s Muslim-Yadav combination vote bank. Muslims comprise 18 percent of Bihar’s population and they largely vote for the Rashtriya Janata Dal, barring a section voting for Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).
But, it was the second part of Kishor’s speech—“to defeat the BJP, the Muslims will have to adopt the ideology of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Lohia, and JP (Jaya Prakash Narayana)”—that was taken seriously by the BJP brass.
“I had contributed to the victory of Narendra Modi in 2014, but after that from 2015 to 2021, I always contributed to the victory of the parties and leaders fighting against the BJP. You should be aware that the BJP has succeeded in forming the government in Delhi thrice with only 37 percent votes, whereas the Hindu population is 80 percent. This means that 40 percent Hindus have voted against the BJP, voted against the politics of hatred,” Kishor said Sunday.
It is a theme that has been earlier brought up by Kishor. For instance, during his padyatra in Supaul district.
“Among the Hindus, there are four categories. The first is those who have high regard for Gandhi, be it Baniya, Brahmin, or Kushwaha; another section hold Ambedkar in high esteem; the third are those with Communist ideology; and the fourth is Lohia Samajwadi followers, who also don’t vote for the BJP. If you make an alliance with the followers of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Communism and Lohia, the BJP will be reduced to 30 percent…,” he said in July.
Kishor has been eyeing to occupy the opposition space as seen in his frequent swipes at RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav. At the same time, he is also eyeing the BJP’s upper caste vote bank.
RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmad, meanwhile, told ThePrint that Prashant Kishor is the ‘B team’ of the BJP as he is attacking the party. “That is clear from the Lok Sabha polls when he praised the BJP and Modi, but he will not get any vote of our base.”
“Nitish Kumar is a declining force. Two parties will remain in Bihar—the RJD and the BJP after Nitish fades out. The BJP is backed by its ideology and a mammoth organisation with a popular leadership. There is more scope (for Jan Suraaj) in Tejashwi’s space,” a Jan Suraaj functionary told ThePrint.
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Is Kishor eyeing NDA’s narrative?
In July, RJD veteran Jagdanand Singh purportedly wrote a letter slamming Jan Suraaj as BJP’s ‘Team B’, while expressing concern over the RJD members switching allegiance to Kishor.
Five-time MP Devendra Prasad Yadav, former MLC Rambali Chandravanshi, RJD state vice-president Abdul Majid and RJD general secretary Riwaj Ansari have switched to Jan Suraaj in the last five months.
Among others who have joined hands with Kishor are Karpoori Thakur granddaughter Dr Jagriti, former IPS officer Anand Mishra, and actor Akshara Singh.
“Prashant Kishor has money and space. Leaders from every party who are annoyed or not getting poll tickets will join him. Lalu’s supporters are committed; Yadavs will not vote for the BJP. Even Muslims will not vote for him as they know he can’t defeat the BJP,” a BJP Bihar vice-president told ThePrint.
“Ultimately, the upper caste voters who are aspirational and not loyal to any party can shift. The BJP got their votes due to Hindutva and aspirational politics of development. When economic hardship beats Hindutva, the vulnerable aspirational Hindu voters can shift to any party which can meet their aspirations.”
The BJP state vice-president explained that as Kishor sensed that a section of Dalits, Baniyas and the upper castes could move towards him, he was eugolising Gandhi and Ambedkar.
A BJP general secretary highlighted that Kishor’s yatra has criss-crossed areas considered backyards of the party such as Champaran, Saran, and Mithila. “Why did he not go to RJD strongholds Magadh and Seemanchal first? He knows that the upper castes have resources for politics, has no patience and can be won over.”
Similarly, a BJP state leader said that Kishor was taking the Arvind Kejriwal route to harp on the narrative of change in Bihar.
“Kishor is using the narrative of change, saying that Biharis have tried all parties—be it the RJD, the JD(U) and the BJP—in the last 40 years. He is doing it like Kejriwal through his statements about change, employment, migration of youth, lack of education and industry despite the 25-year NDA rule,” he said. “And it is getting traction.”
RJD’s Tejashwi had used this plank to dent the JD(U) and the BJP in 2020, he said, adding that Kishor is using the same narrative to occupy the opposition space but it will harm the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) more than the RJD.
Like Amit Malviya, BJP Bihar general secretary Mithilesh Tiwari said Kishor was the ‘B team’ of the RJD. “But the BJP has fought the jungle raj (lawlessness) of Lalu for 25 years, and with help of Nitish Kumar, the BJP will defeat the RJD in 2025, too.”
Former Union minister and BJP MLC Sanjay Paswan called for keeping a watch on the plans of Kishor. “Prashant Kishor is finding traction among the aspirational class, and it can hurt the BJP. It should be careful about his plan,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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