Can Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj surpass exit poll predictions and win 150 seats?

Patna:Prashant Kishor, the election strategist-turned-politician, has set an ambitious target of winning at least 150 seats in the state assembly elections — the results of which would be out on Friday — for his party, Jan Suraaj.

Kishor has also announced that if his party fails to win 150 seats, he will consider it a personal defeat. However, exit polls suggest that this target is unlikely to be met, with most predicting 0-2 seats for the Jan Suraaj, even as Kishor’s party is expected to make some impact, particularly among the youth and migrant voters.But the impact is unlikely to be significant.Many critics have started comparing the scenario to six years ago when Kishor was the JD(U) vice-president during the Jharkhand assembly elections in 2019, and the part drew a blank.

He stood second in the party hierarchy after CM Nitish Kumar, sidelining many experienced and senior leaders of the party.At that time, there were speculations that Nitish was thinking about making Kishor his successor. During the 2019 Jharkhand election, Kishor was in a dual role. He had to formulate the election strategy and also establish the JD(U) in Jharkhand.It is said that due to Kishor’s stubborn attitude, an alliance between the BJP and JD(U) could not materialise in the Jharkhand election.

According to political analysts, Kishor suggested Kumar contest more seats so that the party could be strengthened in Jharkhand. Because of this, the BJP and JD(U) parted ways in the neighbouring state. Kishor started preparing for the Jharkhand election four months in advance on 48 favourable seats identified for the JD(U), while BJP contested separately on 79 seats.When the list of JD(U)’s star campaigners for the Jharkhand election was released, Kishor's name was second only to Nitish, even before senior leaders like Lalan Singh and R C P Singh. Meanwhile, Nitish, respecting the alliance dharma with the BJP in Bihar, announced that he would not go on campaigning in Jharkhand. Then in Nitish’s absence, Kishor became the JD(U)’s number one leader for the Jharkhand election campaign.

A big responsibility fell on him, which he was unable to fulfil as JD(U) drew a blank.