In Bihar, where literacy rates are low, PK’s rhetoric resonates only with a section of the middle-class youth, while others remain indifferent.
Published Apr 17, 2025 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 17, 2025 | 11:00 AM
Political strategist and Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor.
Synopsis: For over 50 years, Bihar’s politics have revolved around caste. No party or leader can succeed without caste-based support. In a state where over 80% of the population belongs to marginalised and backward communities, PK, a Brahmin, faces significant challenges.
Prashant Kishor, popularly known as PK, is a name familiar to many in the two Telugu states. He served as a political strategist for YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and briefly as an advisor to BRS leader K Chandrashekar Rao before switching allegiance to TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu.
Renowned nationwide as a political strategist, PK has now donned the mantle of a politician by founding the ‘Jan Suraaj’ party in Bihar, his home state. As Jan Suraaj prepares to contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, the question is: Will PK emerge as a king, a kingmaker, or merely a joker in Bihar’s political arena?
Everyone in a village recognises the postman, but would he win votes if he contested an election? PK is much like that postman. He claims credit for scripting the electoral successes of several prominent leaders: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar in 2015, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Punjab’s Captain Amarinder Singh, AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, YSRCP’s Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, and DMK’s MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu.
However, none of these leaders have ever publicly attributed their victories solely to PK. Nevertheless, with his marketing acumen, PK has carved out a national reputation as a master strategist.
While PK often highlights his successes, he glosses over his failures. In 2017, his attempt to forge an alliance between Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections ended in defeat. His advice led Mamata Banerjee to field TMC candidates in Goa, only to face a rout.
PK claims he engineered the BJP’s 2014 victory, but the party won in 2019 and 2024 without his involvement.
After gaining fame as a strategist, PK began exploring a political role while continuing his political consulting. In 2015, he joined JD(U), a party he had advised and rose to become its vice-president. However, differences with the leadership led to his exit.
He then made an unsuccessful bid to join Congress at the national level and sought political opportunities through Mamata Banerjee, only to be rebuffed. Ultimately, on 2 October 2024, Gandhi Jayanti, PK launched the Jan Suraaj party.
Before founding Jan Suraaj, PK undertook a padyatra across Bihar with slogans centered on education, healthcare, and employment. Yet, he failed to garner significant public support.
In Bihar, where literacy rates are low, PK’s rhetoric resonates only with a section of the middle-class youth, while others remain indifferent. Can a padyatra alone translate into political power? Examples like CPI(M)’s Tammineni Veerabhadram and YSRTP’s Sharmila in Telangana suggest otherwise.
A padyatra yields results only when backed by a robust party machinery. Currently, Jan Suraaj lacks credible candidates to contest all 243 Assembly seats in Bihar, reflecting the party’s organizational fragility.
PK’s image as an idealist mirrors that of Lok Satta’s Jayaprakash Narayan in United Andhra Pradesh, whose party split votes in 2009, inadvertently aiding the ruling Congress. In 2014, Jayaprakash lost his MLA seat.
PK risks playing a similar role in Bihar. In the 2024 by-elections in four Assembly seats, Jan Suraaj contested for the first time, securing third place in three constituencies and fourth in one, with a mere 10% vote share. The NDA won all four seats, but in two constituencies, Jan Suraaj candidates polled more votes than the NDA’s victory margins.
In 2020, the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) won three of these seats with a 41% vote share, but in the by-elections, their share dropped by 10%. These results reveal PK’s limited influence and suggest Jan Suraaj is more likely to split opposition votes than win seats, potentially benefiting the ruling NDA.
In politics, it is said there are no murders, only suicides. By contesting the by-elections, PK made a strategic blunder. A new party’s success in its debut election is critical for building momentum. When YSRCP contested its first by-elections, it won and laid a strong foundation. PK claims Jan Suraaj will not only contest all seats in the Bihar Assembly elections but also come to power, akin to AAP in Delhi.
However, AAP’s initial electoral success was modest, winning fewer seats but challenging national parties. Jan Suraaj, as the by-election results indicate, is poised to split opposition votes, aiding the ruling coalition. PK’s criticism targets only RJD and JD(U), sparing the BJP, fueling speculation that Jan Suraaj is the BJP’s ‘B-team’, designed to fragment opposition votes.
For over 50 years, Bihar’s politics have revolved around caste. No party or leader can succeed without caste-based support. In a state where over 80% of the population belongs to marginalised and backward communities, PK, a Brahmin, faces significant challenges.
The last Brahmin chief minister in Bihar was Congress’s Jagannath Mishra in 1989. Post-Mandal Commission, OBC leaders have dominated the chief minister’s post. While PK has not declared himself a chief minister candidate, Bihar’s caste-driven politics overshadow his campaign. No single caste group identifies Jan Suraaj as ‘their’ party.
A study by Azim Premji University found that 57% of Bihar’s voters prefer leaders from their caste, making it a daunting task for PK to navigate this complex caste labyrinth.
Current trends show Kurmis, EBCs, upper castes, and Dalits leaning toward the NDA, while Yadavs and Muslims, with a 32% vote share, support the Mahagathbandhan.
Bihar’s politics is dominated by RJD, BJP, and JD(U), with the latter’s alignment often determining the ruling coalition.
PK aims to shift Bihar’s caste-centric politics toward class-based issues, blaming Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav for the state’s backwardness over the past 35 years. He promises to address unemployment, bring back migrant workers, and ensure equitable governance through social engineering.
However, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s pursuit of similar ‘class-based’ politics in Andhra Pradesh, guided by PK, led to a crushing defeat, a cautionary tale for Bihar.
PK is undoubtedly working harder than the leaders of Bihar’s major parties. His team of technocrats is aggressively leveraging social media for campaigning. Yet, Jan Suraaj has only 1.88 lakh followers on X, compared to the BJP’s 7 lakh, JD(U)’s 3 lakh, and RJD’s over 11 lakh.
PK believes that post-Nitish Kumar’s retirement, JD(U) will fade, and Jan Suraaj will inherit its votes, replacing it as a major player.
However, with no grassroots cadre, weak organisational structure, and limited social support, Jan Suraaj’s prospects remain dim. Despite PK’s credentials as a strategist, his party’s numerous shortcomings suggest it may struggle to make a significant impact.
(Political analyst and commentator R Dileep Reddy is the Director, People’s Pulse. The Former Information Commissioner of undivided Andhra Pradesh, he had served ‘Sakshi’ as its Executive Editor. Views are personal. Edited by Majnu Babu).
