‘Jan Suraaj to field 75 EBC candidates in 2025 Bihar polls’

EBCs account for around 36% of Bihar’s 13-crore population, as per the state government’s caste survey.

Jan Suraj Abhiyan will field 75 candidates from the extremely backward castes (EBCs) in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, its founder and poll strategist Prashant Kishor said at a function to mark the birth centenary of former chief minister Karpoori Thakur here on Saturday.

Jan Suraj founder Prashant Kishor speaks at a function in Patna on Saturday to mark the birth centenary of former Bihar CM late Karpoori Thakur. (HT photo)

EBCs account for around 36% of Bihar’s 13-crore population, as per the state government’s caste survey.

“No one whose hands I have held in polls has faced defeat in the past 10 years. Now, I am holding the hands of the people of Bihar and their victory is certain,” Kishor said.

Kishor, who embarked on a statewide 3,500-km-long padyatra (foot march) on October 2, 2022, had announced on December 4 that Jan Suraaj would contest assembly elections in 2025.

Kishor, who had once served as the national vice-president of Janata Dal -United, said that the recently conducted caste-based economic survey had revealed that there was hardly change in their socio-economic status in the past 30-35 years despite following the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar. “All of them have cheated you for votes and did actually nothing for their (EBCs) welfare,” said the Jan Suraaj founder.

“Don’t stand behind the flag of any party. Be the flag-bearer and Jan Suraaj will be backing you up from behind from all its resources,” said Kishor, while daring the political parties to put up EBC candidates in similar strength in the next assembly elections.

Stating that the reservations won’t help the EBCs change their lives, Kishor said only 1.57% of the people get the government jobs. “The remaining 98.5% people are not in government service. Unless the people ensure good education for the education of their children, they will not get the benefit of reservation. Therefore, you should have a plan to ensure 100% education of their children,” he said.

He announced that Jan Suraaj will bear the expenses of providing free coaching facilities to 500 children of the EBC community every year to help them get suitable jobs. “About 10-12 meritorious students from the EBC community will be selected from every district from the next month for job-oriented coaching,” said Kishor.

Former head of economics department of Patna University and political analyst, Nawal Kishore Chaudhary, said Prashant Kishor knows how to make oneself relevant in Bihar politics. “EBCs constitute over 36% of Bihar’s population. Anyone willing to succeed in politics in Bihar needs to nurture EBCs and OBCs, who together form 63% vote base. The Congress is also targeting this segment. Kishor wants to wean away Nitish Kumar’s vote bank and unseat him from the power, as numbers count in the democracy,” said Chaudhary.