The sattu and litti stalls at the intersection of the Bihar School Examination Board, Sinha Library and Frazer Road have a dozen local residents gossiping. They are immersed in an animated discussion around Prashant Kishore, Jan Suraaj Party candidate for the by-election in the Bankipur Assembly constituency of Patna.
“There is no question of anyone else; we will vote for Prashant Kishore,” says a youth. A middle-aged man, bespectacled and looking like a schoolteacher, adds, “He (Kishore) is the best; an educated and decent leader. He talks logic and never indulges in loose talk.” The litti seller guffaws, “Only a madman can choose anyone else over Prashant Kishore.” Yet another raises his right hand, fist clenched: “Ab ki baar, Prashant Kishore (Prashant Kishore, this time).”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidates, Neeraj Kumar Sinha and Rekha Gupta respectively, do not even figure in the session of gossip. However, an old man, though sounding supportive of Kishore, says feebly, “People can vote for him (Kishore), but no one can guarantee his victory. The BJP won’t let him win.”
Double-Edged Rhyme:
Bizarre as it may sound, moving out on the streets of Patna, one hears a double-edged rhyme.
On the surface, there is a distinct swell of support for the Jan Suraaj Party founder, who earned distinction as an election strategist by masterminding the campaigns of Narendra Modi (Prime Minister), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), M.K. Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Amarinder Singh (Punjab), et al., before joining active politics in his home state of Bihar about four years ago.
Yet, scratch just beneath this vocal preference, and a deep-seated anxiety emerges. For all their declarations of support, the people of Bankipur are trapped in a peculiar paradox: they are ready to give Kishore their vote, but few are willing to wager that the system will let him win. It is a contest where the enthusiasm of the street is constantly checking its pulse against a persistent fear of "eventual manipulation" by the ruling machinery.
Asked to explain this bizarre phenomenon of the double-edged rhyme, senior journalist Kanhaiya Bhelari, who runs his own internet channel, said, “Log to paksh mein hain lekin BJP Prashant Kishore ko jitne nahin degi (The voters are in his favour, but the BJP will not let Prashant Kishore win).”
How and why? Bhelari shot back, “What happened in Bengal, Haryana and Maharashtra? From the Election Commission to booth-level officials, from the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department to local policemen and panchayat-level functionaries, the BJP has a vice-like grip… As simple as that.”
Echo of Temple Theft and BJP’s Corruption in Patna:
Incidentally, there are few people on the streets speaking against Prashant Kishore, who has never been a lawmaker and, as such, carries no baggage of corruption, communalism or casteism. Contrarily, the streets of Patna are agog with gossipers talking about “chadhawa chori” (theft of offerings) and “chanda chori” (theft of donations) at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, seems to have lost some of his “sheen” because of his government’s reported failure to generate the promised employment, check unbridled inflation and bring “good days” for the common man. From the alleged theft of offerings at the temple to allegations that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and his relatives purchased acres of land in their names, to allegations that a Union minister pocketed a subsidy of nearly ₹1 crore for cultivating cucumbers, charges of corruption against the BJP dispensation are thick and fast on the streets of Patna.
An upper-caste Rajput, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath might have some hidden support among his caste fellows in Bihar’s areas bordering Uttar Pradesh. But be it the intrinsically inclusive nature of Bihar’s society, or the impact of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s and Nitish Kumar’s socialist and secular politics over a long period, the BJP is still unable to create as much division on Hindu-Muslim lines in Bihar’s villages as it has in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The talk of chadhawa chori and chanda chori is more pronounced in Patna than Adityanath’s allegations about the offering of “namaz” at Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya.
The by-election in Bankipur is scheduled for July 30. But people appear hardly interested in local issues; they are talking more about the NEET paper leak, Sonam Wangchuk’s fast unto death at Jantar Mantar, and allegations of corruption and communalism against the ruling BJP.
In a way, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, too, is not at the centre of discussion. It is perhaps because he is still new to the office and has yet to accumulate anti-incumbency. Before he was anointed Bihar Chief Minister, he was Deputy Chief Minister under Nitish Kumar and an MLA from Tarapur in the old Munger region, not very well known beyond his constituency and his party.
Prashant Kishore’s admirers see immense possibilities in his victory, if it happens. “His victory will have an impact on national politics. He is a national figure. His defeat will amount to bad luck for Bihar,” said Tara Singh (name changed), a local lawyer, adding, “If Prashant Kishore wins, he has the potential to change the course of state and national politics.”
Be it by design or because of his tacit support, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has largely kept himself out of the campaign. The battle has apparently boiled down to the BJP versus the Jan Suraaj nominee in Bankipur.
The Jan Suraaj Party failed to win a single seat in the 2025 Assembly elections. Kishore himself had not contested then. It is for the first time that he has thrown his hat into the ring in what is considered a BJP stronghold. Some people compare him to Arvind Kejriwal. But the comparison is out of place. Unlike Kejriwal, who, despite his opposition to the BJP, has often been accused by critics of practising a form of "soft Hindutva", Kishore has not modelled his politics along those lines.
On the other hand, while articulating a vision for development, Prashant Kishore has repeatedly asserted that his politics is rooted in the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar and in the inclusive politics of the pre-Independence Congress. He left the Janata Dal (United) in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), and has steadfastly sought votes from all communities and castes.
In this writer’s opinion, Prashant Kishore appears to be the stronger candidate in comparison to his rivals in Bankipur.
Disclaimer:
In no way should this column be considered predictive. Yours truly, as a voter in Patna, has only good wishes for Kishore on account of his diligence and merit, but is not in a position to carry out the comprehensive survey and data analysis required to predict the people's verdict.