Managing other political parties till now, the election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor today finally launched his own new political party, “Jan Suraj Party,” in Patna. He has made Manoj Bharti its working president. A resident of Madhubani who studied at Jharkhand’s Netarhat, IIT Kanpur, he did his M.Tech from IIT Delhi, He has also served in the foreign service. He was India’s ambassador in Ukraine, Belarus, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Speaking on the occasion, Kishor said though his party has been active for the past two years, it was only recently it received approval from the Election Commission of India. “Jan Suraaj campaign is going on for 2-3 years. People are asking when we will be forming the party. We all must thank God, today the Election Commission has officially accepted Jan Suraaj as Jan Suraaj Party,” he said, further adding that if Bihar has to have a world-class education system, Rs 5 lakh crore is needed in the next 10 years.
“When the liquor ban is removed, that money won’t go into the budget and will not be used for the security of leaders, nor it will be used for roads, water and electricity. That will be used only for building a new education system in Bihar. Every year, Bihar is facing a loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to the liquor ban,”according to him. It may be recalled that he has vowed to end the liquor ban in Bihar immediately if elected to power. With the Election Commission’s nod, the Jan Suraj Party is now expected to contest in all constituencies in the state assembly elections next year.
The Bihar minister Ashok Chaudhary, reacting to the launch of Prashant Kishor’s party,called him a person who though believes in the policies and actions of Mahatma Gandhi but takes decisions against it.
“As far as we know Prashant Kishor, has been managing political parties till date, but unfortunately he did not get a second chance in the parties he managed…Today his expansionist soul has awakened which wants to do politics… He has named (the party) ‘Jan-Suraj’… A person who believes in the policies and actions of Mahatma Gandhi but takes decisions against his policies. This shows how much he believes in the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi,” Chaudhary remarked.
Earlier on September 30, Prashant Kishor said that he does not want to become the leader of the party, adding that next year, in January or February, the party will release its agenda for Bihar. “The party is being formed; in February and March 2025, we will release the party’s agenda. He had earlier announced that the party would contest elections on all 243 seats out of which there will be 40 women candidates from the party to be formed.