RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that poll strategist Prashant Kishor, whose party Jan Suraaj made its electoral debut in the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections on Thursday, would have “no impact” on the outcome.
In an interview with NDTV, Yadav dismissed speculation that Kishor’s party could split votes from the RJD. “This question… about which party will damage us or who can help us… the RJD has been pushed into this narrative. Some will claim that in the last election Chirag Paswan helped us or speculate Kishor will steal votes from us in this election… but we have nothing to do with this,” he said.
Yadav added, “I have only belief… that we are going to form the government and Bihar will change.”
He also referenced past tensions in the BJP-JDU alliance, noting that in the previous election, Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party contested independently, which affected the BJP-JDU vote share. “Paswan’s solo run took away nearly 5.7 per cent votes from the BJP-led alliance… at the same time, the opposition Mahagathbandhan, led by the RJD, picked up nearly nine per cent more than it got in 2015,” Yadav said, according to NDTV.
Many observers have drawn parallels between Kishor’s Jan Suraaj and Paswan’s earlier role, with speculation that the new party could act as a ‘third front’ and influence the vote, particularly among young and educated voters. However, Yadav dismissed the idea that Kishor could be a game-changer.
He also ruled out any significant role for Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in the election, indicating that the contest will primarily be between the ruling NDA, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the BJP, and the opposition Mahagathbandhan, fronted by the RJD and Congress.
The first phase of polling covered 121 of Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats, recording a voter turnout of 64.66 per cent, the highest in the state’s history. Yadav said that this high participation is a positive sign.
“I have positive feedback from everywhere. People want change… They want a Bihar free from corruption; they want Bihar to be a hub of IT, textiles, food processing, agro-based industry,” Yadav said, according to the NDTV interview.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the record voter turnout in the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections showed that people had reposed their faith in the “track record of Narendra and Nitish.”
Addressing a rally in Aurangabad district, Modi predicted a clear victory for the NDA, led in Bihar by Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, and lauded the Election Commission for conducting peaceful polls across 121 constituencies.