Prashant Kishor unveils Jan Suraaj’s leadership plan: ‘First president of party will come from…’

Prashant Kishor will officially launch his political party, Jan Suraaj, in Bihar on 2 October. Announced on Sunday following consultations with delegates in Patna, the new party will challenge Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) in the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections.

But who will be the president of the party, not Prashant Kishor?

Prashant Kishor outlined the leadership roadmap for the yet-to-be-launched Jan Suraaj party on Sunday. Prashant Kishor has announced that he will not be taking on the role of President for Jan Suraaj. Kishor had launched the Jan Suraaj campaign on 2 October 2022, embarking on a padayatra across Bihar, pledging to drive comprehensive development to reduce the need for people to migrate for education, employment, or medical care.

Prashant Kishor highlighted that the Jan Suraaj president position is open to candidates who can demonstrate the ability to bring in 5,000 members each. He mentioned that 25 such applicants are eligible to apply for the role, according to an Indian Express report. 

Prashant Kishor announced that the decision on Jan Suraaj’s first president will be made by a newly formed seven-member empowered committee. Established on Friday, this committee includes Dr. Bhupendra Yadav from Samastipur, R N Singh from Begusarai, former IAS officer Suresh Sharma, lawyer Ganesh Ram from Siwan, Dr. Manjar Naseen from East Champaran, former IAS officer Arvind Singh from Bhojpur, and Swarnlata Sahani from Muzaffarpur.

“There are five broad social groups: general category, OBCs (Other Backward Classes), EBCs (Extremely Backward Classes), SCs (Scheduled Castes), STs (Scheduled Tribes), and Muslims. As Dalits are the most disadvantaged, the first president of the new party will come from this section.” the Indian Express report quoted Prashant Kishor.

“We have also decided on giving rotational representation, which means the tenure of the president would be for a year. Either an EBC or a Muslim will be our second president, followed by a candidate from the OBC and general category. The idea is to give representation to all sections in the five-year electoral term,” Kishor was quoted saying by IE.

Prashant Kishor revealed that Jan Suraaj is considering Class 10 or 12 as the minimum educational qualification for its party president, criticizing rivals Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar for leaving Bihar with a high level of illiteracy.

Kishor emphasized that while Jan Suraaj will engage in caste-based politics, it aims to provide proportional representation for all communities. He outlined plans to field candidates based on community demographics, including about 70 candidates from the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) in the upcoming Assembly elections, reflecting their significant 36% share of the state’s population.

Jagriti Thakur, the granddaughter of renowned socialist leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, has joined Jan Suraaj. She is accompanied by retired IPS officer Anand Mishra, who recently contested the Lok Sabha elections from Buxar as an independent, and former RJD MLC Rambali Singh Chandravanshi.

Jagriti Thakur is making her political debut with Jan Suraaj, although her father, Dr. Birendra Thakur, is not involved in politics. Additionally, Rambali Singh Chandravanshi recently faced expulsion from his MLC position for anti-party activities.