“Teen saal se maine (apni) haddi jala diya hai.” Prashant Kishor says this about the work he has put in over the past three years to get his party, Jan Suraaj, up and running in Bihar.Kishor, popularly referred to as PK, represents not only a new party in Bihar, giving sleepless moments to the NDA led by Nitish Kumar or the Mahagathbandhan helmed by Tejashwi Yadav, he is a reminder of the political space that existed in the state — and probably elsewhere — that was there for the taking for the Congress had it put in the mehnat (hard work) to revive itself organisationally. Instead, it was the Jan Suraaj founder whose efforts helped the new outfit emerge as the third pole in Bihar. The Jan Suraaj fielded candidates in all 243 seats within a year of being created (later, three withdrew their nomination, and that of one was rejected).Advertisement“I am occupying the space of those seeking a change in the status quo,” Kishor told The Indian Express during one of his recent roadshows before campaigning drew to a close on November 9.Asked what he had done that others hadn’t, Kishor, who undertook padyatras across the state for more than two years, said, “I have put in the hard work, nothing else. Mehnat karke neeche se apni pechan banayi, ghar ghar gaya (I put in the hard work and built my identity, I went door to door).”The election strategist-turned-politician has been among the most discussed names in the 2025 election. He is someone without a (known) “surname”, a “jaati (caste)” that is his core constituency, or a “legacy” that people in all parts of Bihar come to hear, but is seen as one of the most vocal on issues such as education, joblessness and “palayan (migration)”, helping set the poll narrative for 2025 to a large degree. The resulting “ground chatter”, as he puts it, is “unparalleled”. More than 30 crore people watch Jan Suraaj’s videos daily on its platform alone, he claimed.AdvertisementWhile Kishor claims there is an “undercurrent”, particularly among the youth who want change, his confidence stems from the “returning migrants” who came back to the state over Diwali and Chhath Puja. Kishor estimates that “50 to 70 lakh” of them stayed back and no fewer than two-thirds will vote for his party.Some in Patna’s political circles, however, feel that Kishor’s momentum “petered out” after the “initial hype” and the fight became polarised between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan towards the latter stage of the campaign. However, PK could still end up playing the kingmaker. According to BJP insiders, instead of the 6-10% of the popular vote that they expected the Jan Suraaj to pick up, thus dividing the anti-incumbency sentiment and hurting the Mahagathbandhan, Kishor could potentially end up polling 13-15%, thus cutting into the upper-caste and middle-class votes that could hurt the BJP.While the BJP tried to weaken PK by “persuading” three of his Jan Suraaj contestants to withdraw, the Jan Suraaj leader also stepped up his attacks on the BJP, levelling allegations against Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary.Had Kishor not fallen out with Nitish Kumar in 2020, he might have had an established structure to build his politics on today. At one stage, Kumar had even virtually declared him his successor in the JD(U). Referring to his fallout with the JD(U), citing the NDA’s backing for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens, Kishor said, “He deceived me … And I am not a pushover.”Nitish, he said, told him, “Arrey, Lok Sabha mein vote kar diya, par koi baat nahin, Bihar mein nahin lagoo kiya jayega (We voted for it in the Lok Sabha, it doesn’t matter. It won’t be implemented in Bihar).” The CM “can afford to do it at the age of 75 … I cannot afford to do it at the age of 40, I love my credibility”, Kishor said.Similarities, differences with VPAs PK made his way from Patna to Gopalganj, via Saran, Chapra, and Siwan, youngsters followed his cavalcade — on hundreds of motorcycles — throwing marigold petals, clicking selfies with him, and waving the yellow flag of the Jan Suraaj.There were flashes of Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s roadshows and meetings in Uttar Pradesh in 1987 after he had just quit the Congress to take on Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi through his new platform, Jan Morcha. Unlike Kishor, VP opted not to fashion a new party. The Jan Morcha platform brought together all the existing non-Congress, centrist parties together on one platform, and led to the creation of the Janata Dal in 1988. He also brought on board the anti-Congress state satraps and their regional parties to form the second tier of support.However, VP still did not believe it would be enough to defeat the Congress. It was only after the Rajiv government gave the go-ahead for the “shilanayas (foundation stone laying)” of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 1989 that he believed that the Janata Dal could be in with a chance, as the Congress would have alienated Muslims with the move.Unlike the former PM, Kishor has chosen to create his party as a “bottom-up effort”, creating what he says is a “guldasta (bouquet)” of “samajik sameekaran (social equations)” in each constituency.most readIn the past 11 years, PK has used his expertise in data, social media, and the latest technological tools to help leaders such as Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Amarinder Singh, Jaganmohan Reddy, and Arvind Kejriwal at various times. It worked for these leaders because they had an existing organisational structure, had been in the political arena for a while, and the mood was turning in their states. PK, in contrast, is a leader heading a new organisation.The question, therefore, is: can a desire for change, goodwill for a new political entity, its goals, expertise with media and latest tech-driven tools, monetary resources, which PK says he has, and hard work be enough to win elections in India of the present? November 14 may provide some answers.Kishor plans to give “at least 10 years” to turning Bihar around and sees himself emerging as the first real mass leader in Bihar after former CM Karpoori Thakur (according to him, Lalu and Nitish are byproducts of VP Singh’s Mandal politics). But whatever the outcome in Bihar, he looks like a leader who is here to stay and come results day, may be the man to watch out for.