Jan Suraaj Party Announces 65 New Candidates for Bihar Elections: Prashant Kishor's Vision for Inclusive Representation

Patna:

Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party has unveiled its second list featuring 65 candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, maintaining its fundamental commitment to inclusivity and representation across all societal segments. However, speculation continues about whether Kishor himself will enter the electoral race.

With this announcement, Jan Suraaj has now declared candidates for 116 constituencies. The fledgling political organization, contesting elections for the first time and still viewed as an unproven entity, has confirmed its intention to field candidates in all 243 constituencies across Bihar.

During the list's presentation in Patna, Uday Singh, the party's national president, stated, "In keeping with our pledge to provide representation to every community, we are announcing candidates from the largest Extremely Backward Class group (10 Hindu, 4 Muslim) for 14 seats, 10 from the Other Backward Class, and 14 from the Minority Class."

The latest list includes notable figures such as Abhay Kant Jha, the attorney who provided pro bono representation for victims of the 1989 Bhagalpur riots, who will contest from Bhagalpur; Dr. Shahnawaz Alam, a respected physician from Siwan, who will run from Badhariya; retired police officer Nasrullah Khan from Nokha (Rohtas); and Prof. Shashikant Prasad from Phulwari, representing the Scheduled Caste community.

Kamlesh Paswan, a Scheduled Tribe candidate, has been nominated from Harnaut, the home constituency of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

In its initial list, the party presented 51 candidates, with 49 being first-time electoral participants. This roster featured prominent professionals including doctors, lawyers, former civil servants, and police officials. The primary criterion for selection was an untarnished reputation, aligning with the party's commitment to addressing the persistent corruption that has plagued the state for decades.

Prominent names in the first list included mathematician K C Sinha from Kumhrar (Patna), Bhojpuri performer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey from Kargahar, and Dr. Jagriti Thakur, descendant of former chief minister and socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, from Morwa (Samastipur).

Kishor had emphasized that his candidates were selected based on their community contributions, remarking, "If voters choose not to support such individuals, the responsibility lies not with Prashant Kishor but with the people of Bihar themselves."