Will quit politics if JD(U) fulfills Rs 2 lakh poll promise: Prashant Kishor's first reaction after party suffers blow in assembly polls
PTC News Desk: Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor broke his silence after his party failed to secure even a single seat in Bihar. In his first reaction, he took a 'maun upvas' (vow of silence) for "failing to change the government". Kishore while interacting with media took full responsibility for party's poor performance.
"We tried very positively from our end. We failed to change this government. We tried a lot from our end, but it seems we failed somewhere. I take all the blame on myself as I failed to let people understand. We will do our introspection. I am sorry I failed in our efforts. I will be on a 'maun upvas' (vow of silence) for a day," the poll strategist-turned politician said.
Prashant Kishor's party unsuccessfully contested 238 seats out of Bihar's 243 Assembly seats, however flopped terribly as it failed to secure even a single win. The ruling NDA alliance led by the BJP won with 202 seats (BJP 89 and JDU 85), with Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas) emerging as the other key contributor with 19 seats.
"We made an honest effort, but it was completely unsuccessful. There's no harm in admitting this. Forget about systemic change; we couldn't even bring about a change in power. But we certainly played some role in changing Bihar's politics. There must have been some mistake in our efforts, in our thinking, in the way we explained that the public had not elected us. If the public did not show faith in us, then the responsibility for that is completely mine," he said.
Meanwhile, Kishor clarified that he is not quitting politics yet, even though he had earlier said he would leave if the JDU won more than 25 seats. This time too, he made a similar promise—saying he would retire from politics if the government actually gives ₹2 lakh each to 1.5 crore people, as they had promised before the elections.
Rejecting the Opposition’s claim that voters sold their votes, Kishor said this was not true. He explained that, for the first time in independent India—and especially in Bihar—a government promised to spend ₹40,000 crore on the people, which is why the NDA won such a large majority. He said people would not trade their or their children’s future for money. He added that some people are accusing the Election Commission of wrongdoing, but that is for them to discuss.
Kishor also claimed that in every Assembly constituency, around 60,000 to 62,000 people were given ₹10,000 and promised a ₹2 lakh loan. According to him, government officials told voters they would receive the loan if the NDA came back to power, and even Jeevika workers were assigned to spread this message.
- With inputs from agencies
