India
oi-Ashish Rana
Prashant Kishor also known as PK is very famous for known as one of India’s most influential political strategists. After spending almost a decade make successful election campaigns for several parties and now he has entered into active politics. He decided to contest the elections from Bankipur Assembly constituency and now his decision to fight the election from that seat has turned into one of the most closely watched political contests.
Political strategist Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, is contesting the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, aiming for his party’s first electoral win and marking a transition from strategist to political leader.
From Election Strategist to Political Leader
Prashant Kishor first started gaining popularity during Gujarat 2012 Assembly election, when Narendra Modi won the election third consecutive term as state’s chief minister. He then played an important role BJP’s successful 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign as well.
In the last decade, Prashan Kishor worked with many parties for their election campaigns. He worked in the victories of parties like JD(U)-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan in Bihar (2015), Congress in Punjab (2017), Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi (2020), and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal (2021).
His work in Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) got him reputation for using data analysis, grassroot feedback and modern campaign techniques for elections.
Even before entering Politics, Prashant Kishor worked as public health expert on United Nations-funded programmes, contributing to nutrition and healthcare initiatives in India and other African countries for almost eight years.
Birth of Jan Suraaj
His last work as election campaigner was with Mamata Banerjee in 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections, and after that he announced he would launch his own party for Bihar elections. He started with statewide padyatra first to know people’s concerns and officially launched Jan Suraaj movement on 2nd October 2022 from Dharharwa Ashram in Champaran. He later formed his party on the same as Jan Suraaj Party.
He fielded 238 candidates in 2025 Assembly elections but the party failed to win even a single seat and the major concern was that only few of them was able to retain their deposits. However, the political analysts said that his party played an important role in Bihar elections and it divided votes in several constituencies.
Political Background and Social Base
Prashant Kishore has not used caste surname in his name, although he has accepted that he belongs from a Brahmin family. He has said multiple times that his party doesn’t believe in caste-politics.
Jan Suraaj Party first asked for the support from minority community and anti-NDA voters to vote for Jan Suraaj Party, however none of that support turned into votes for the party. In Bankipur bypoll, Prashant Kishore has got the support of ections of Muslim voters, young voters, women and some upper-caste communities, making the competition tough fight.
Why Bankipur Is Significant
Bankipur constituency has been a strong hold for BJP and it has upper-caste voters, including Kayasthas, Brahmins, Bhumihars and Rajputs, which has historically favoured the BJP. The seat also has important votes of Muslim and Yadav populations alongside Dalit, Kurmi and Kushwaha community.
As the article was being written Prashant Kishore has been leading ahead from BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 12,000 votes in 20 rounds of counting.
If Prashant Kishore wins the constituency election then this will mark Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraaj party’s first seat win. With this he will also give a strength of his claim of giving alternate option to BJP-RJD-JD(U) political landscape.
The win looks much easier now for Prasahant Kishore as he is already ahead and this will definetly elevate Prashant Kishore from best-known election strategist to one of most watched leaders in Bihar.
