Prashant Kishor’s Disruption Dream: Bihar Politics on the Brink
Image credit X.com @JanSuraaj
By onboarding Bihar’s known faces at the national stage in his party, which includes the likes of Pawan Verma, Kishor is spinning the narrative that Bihar is pining for a third option.
By MANISH ANAND
Patna, October 3, 2025 — If a winner takes medals for grabbing headlines, Prashant Kishor, strategist-turned-politician, may walk away with bagful of honours in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Bihar media has made by all accounts the maverick electoral debutant a central figure in the Bihar state polls.
With an apparent aim to shrug off an image of a BJP-B Team for his Jan Suraj, Kishor went all his guns blazing against saffron outfit’s top face in Bihar—deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary. To make his case even more strong, Kishor also sought to muddy the ruling Janata Dal (United), as he lobbed graft barbs at Ashok Choudhary, the man-Friday of state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
C-Voters, an election trend tracker, has given 27% popular endorsement to Kishore in the September month survey. This is his highest rating for him. Kishor now is just behind former deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav who has 37% endorsement. Incumbent CM stays at a modest 16%.
Bihar in several of the elections in the past has proven to be a graveyard for psephologists. They have been outrageously wrong on many occasions.
Yet Kishor in his electoral venture seeks to disturb the settled bipolarity of Bihar politics. His election campaign seems well-oiled. His visibility is now pan-Bihar. But he carries a baggage of questions, even from his well-wishers,
“What will he do,” asked Chhedi Choudhary, who sought to probe the narrative of Kishor. Can he do different than what “Nitish Kumar is already doing?”
The people in the state appreciate energy of Kishor. He is seen as an educated and talented Bihari, who made a name for himself at the national stage.
He commands vocal support among youngsters, cutting across caste and community lines. Discussions with youngsters reveal that Kishor has touched chords on issues of unemployment. He is spoken favourably for his anti-prohibition policy also.
But Kishor already has tested power in Bihar. For a sufficient timespan, Kishor was Kumar’s closest confidante. He was even appointed vice president of the JD (U).
“Kishor cannot claim that he be given a chance, for he had already been in power in power. What actually did he do when he was a powerful ally of the incumbent Chief Minister,” asked Ravi Shankar Kapoor, a political observer.
By onboarding Bihar’s known faces at the national stage in his party, which includes the likes of Pawan Verma, Kishor is spinning the narrative that Bihar is pining for a third option. Discourse on the ground suggests that he has to toil hard to move his narrative from the media to the people in Bihar.
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