Prashant Kishor Rejects Alliance With Chirag Paswan, Vows Solo Fight
Jan Suraaj to contest alone, prioritizing public over political deals.
Prashant Kishor, the prominent political strategist and founder of Jan Suraaj Party, has categorically dismissed speculation of an electoral alliance with Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections scheduled for November 6 and 11, 2025. In a resolute address to supporters in Muzaffarpur, Kishor declared that his party would contest independently, emphasizing that its sole allegiance lies with the people of Bihar.
“Jan Suraaj will not engage in negotiations for seats or alliances,” Kishor stated firmly. “The prevailing struggle in Bihar is not about electoral arithmetic but about countering systemic exploitation. Political parties are vying for greater control to perpetuate this cycle. Our commitment is exclusively to the citizens of Bihar.” His remarks directly addressed and quashed rumors of a potential coalition with Paswan’s party, which had gained traction amid reported tensions within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over seat-sharing arrangements.
The backdrop to Kishor’s announcement is the intensifying discord within the NDA, particularly between Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Paswan, the 43-year-old Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, is leveraging his party’s strong performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections—where it secured all five contested seats, including the symbolically significant Hajipur constituency—to demand 40 of Bihar’s 243 assembly seats. The BJP, however, has offered only 25 seats, a figure deemed insufficient by Paswan’s camp, prompting veiled threats of reconsidering his role in the coalition.
Also Read: Chirag Paswan Critiques Prashant Kishor’s “Kejriwal-Style” Politics
In a recent interview with NDTV, Paswan underscored his electoral influence, stating, “My presence in a constituency can sway 20,000 to 25,000 votes, akin to salt enhancing a dish’s flavor.” He further hinted at the possibility of exiting the NDA, noting, “All options remain open if negotiations falter.” BJP sources, however, have downplayed these remarks, asserting Paswan’s continued loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and framing his statements as efforts to appease hardline factions within his party.
The speculation of a Jan Suraaj-LJP tie-up had been fueled by reports of discreet discussions, with LJP sources suggesting a partnership could counter anti-incumbency sentiments directed at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United). Some even posited Paswan might contest a seat in the Shahabad region to bolster his leverage. Kishor’s public rebuttal, amplified through a video statement that garnered over two million views online, decisively ended such conjecture.
Bihar’s political landscape remains highly volatile as the elections approach. The NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP (Ram Vilas), secured 125 seats in the 2020 assembly polls but now faces a formidable challenge from the INDIA bloc, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav, who is campaigning aggressively on issues like unemployment and flood management. Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, launched in 2022 as a platform advocating industrial development, women’s representation, and Bihar’s emergence from its “BIMARU” stigma, is projected to capture 10-15% of the vote share, potentially disrupting traditional vote banks and influencing outcomes in a fragmented assembly.
Paswan’s party remains undeterred, with a senior LJP MP affirming, “Chirag Paswan is fully aligned with the NDA’s vision under Prime Minister Modi.” Yet, murmurs of alternative strategies, including outreach to independents or even the RJD, persist. Opposition leaders have seized the moment to highlight NDA vulnerabilities. “Kishor’s rejection exposes the coalition’s fault lines,” remarked RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari. “Paswan’s bargaining tactics only deepen the cracks.”
With the campaign intensifying across Bihar’s 243 constituencies, the electorate—representing over 130 million citizens grappling with economic migration and infrastructure deficits—faces a pivotal moment. Kishor’s decision to go solo positions Jan Suraaj as a wildcard, potentially reshaping Bihar’s political calculus. As the state braces for a fiercely contested election, the outcome will hinge on whether voters rally behind Kishor’s vision of transformative governance or remain tethered to established alliances. The path to November’s verdict promises to be fraught with high stakes and unrelenting scrutiny.
Also Read: Prashant Kishor Exposes Bihar Ministers’ Alleged Corruption, Fake Degrees
