Prashant Kishor Eyes Bihar’s Political Vacuum Ahead of 2025 Polls
Image credit X.com @JanSuraaj
As Nitish Kumar shows signs of fatigue and BJP faces leadership gaps, strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor emerges as a potential alternative amid Bihar’s shifting political landscape.
By MANISH ANAND
NEW DELHI, July 8, 2025 — The Bihar Cabinet is loosening the state exchequer’s purse strings to appease all and sundry as the election heat rises. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is showing signs of nervousness, approving populist schemes in reaction to the promises being made by his rival Tejashwi Yadav, the CM candidate of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Kumar appears increasingly like a fatigued regional satrap heading into what may be his final electoral battle. He is now relying on Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than ever before to retain power in Patna. Modi, for his part, has become a frequent flyer to Bihar, attempting to project his political brand onto the state’s electorate.
Kumar remains the last standing member of Bihar’s iconic political troika born out of the 1974 movement. His contemporaries—Lalu Prasad Yadav, now RJD president but playing a mentor role to his son Tejashwi, and Ram Vilas Paswan, the late founder of the Lok Janshakti Party—have exited the main stage.
In the absence of Sushil Kumar Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing a near-vacuum in leadership in the state. The BJP’s current leaders in Bihar lack a pan-state presence for all practical purposes. Tejashwi Yadav, meanwhile, continues to battle the legacy of his father, under whose rule Bihar was widely perceived to have descended into ‘Jungle Raj’—an era of lawlessness and rampant corruption, epitomised by the fodder scam.
Amidst this leadership flux, the stage seems set for the emergence of a third alternative. Prashant Kishor, the election strategist-turned-politician, is arguably the most recognisable figure in this potential space. His prolonged padyatras across the state have made him a visible and familiar presence across Bihar. Unlike the JD(U) and the BJP, both currently struggling with leadership crises, Kishor can claim with confidence that people in every block of Bihar know him.
However, Kishor’s name recognition alone is no guarantee of electoral success. The state heads to Assembly elections this November, and Nitish Kumar has been in power since 2005—barring a brief hiatus when he ventured into national politics.
Kishor’s biggest challenge is breaking through Bihar’s entrenched caste-driven political structure. To navigate this caste conundrum, he may require opportunistic alliances. Yet neither the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nor the Mahagathbandhan (RJD+) is likely to accommodate Kishor’s ambitions, as a viable third front poses a direct threat to both camps. Still, Kishor needs political partners to build momentum.
His eyes appear set not only on the 2025 elections but on the longer horizon of the 2029 Bihar Assembly elections. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and other senior Congress leaders seem to share a similar reading of the evolving political landscape in Bihar.
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