Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) has made a surprising start in the 2025 Bihar elections, securing early leads in three seats as counting began on Friday morning. The party is contesting 239 out of the state’s 243 seats. Exit polls had predicted that JSP would win between 0 and 5 seats, making these early results a notable achievement for a new political entrant.
Prashant Kishor, the well-known election strategist who played key roles in BJP’s 2014 campaign and later worked with parties like the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and Congress, launched JSP as a fresh alternative to Bihar’s long-dominant political players—the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and BJP. He had envisioned a triangular contest, giving voters a choice beyond the traditional National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Mahagathbandhan.
Kishor had predicted that his party could either win 10 seats or more than 150 seats. Most exit polls had been skeptical about JSP’s performance. News18’s Mega Exit Poll forecasted 0-5 seats, Matrize 0-2, People’s Insight 0-2, Chanakya 0, People’s Pulse 0-5, JVC Poll 0-1, Dainik Bhaskar 0, and PMARQ 1-4 seats. Only People’s Pulse suggested that JSP might secure nearly 10% of the vote—a strong result for a first-time contender.
Launched in 2022, the Jan Suraaj movement began as a grassroots effort to “reimagine governance” in Bihar. Over the past two years, it evolved into a political platform conducting village-level meetings, padyatras, and consultations across districts to engage citizens directly.
Meanwhile, early trends indicate that the ruling alliance led by BJP and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), along with smaller allies like Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, is leading as expected. The exit polls had forecasted a comfortable majority for the NDA, and the counting so far appears to confirm this prediction.
Despite being a new entrant, Jan Suraaj’s early leads show that voters are open to alternatives in Bihar’s political landscape. As counting continues, all eyes are on whether the party can expand its presence and influence in the state assembly.
