Prashant Kishor says Nitish era is over, warns against return of Jungle Raj

Prashant Kishor said bureaucrats are running the government in Bihar, about which chief minister Nitish Kumar has little understanding

PATNA: Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor on Saturday launched a scathing attack on ruling JD(U), saying that “bureaucrats are running the government”, and took a swipe at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) by warning voters against the “return of the jungle raj”.

Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor. (PTI)

Speaking at the Hindustan Bihar Samagam 2025 in Patna, Kishor took an aim at Bihar chief minister and said that “the era of Nitish Kumar is over”.

Recalling the time he worked with Kumar in 2018, Kishor said that he had joined the JD(U) for its administrative vision but lamented a “complete metamorphosis” in the CM’s personality and governance style. “Now, bureaucrats are running the government, about which Nitish Kumar has little understanding,” he said.

He also challenged RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s claims of being the chief ministerial face of the INDIA bloc in Bihar. “It is the electorate who decide the CM... nobody in politics claims he/she would become the CM or the PM,” Kishor said.

The strategist-turned-politician accused the RJD of perpetuating outdated caste-based politics and failing to deliver development. He also warned Bihar voters against the return of the “jungle raj” era.

On Tejashwi’s promise that every household in Bihar that does not have a member in a government job will get one, if his alliance comes to power, Kishor dared him to “calculate the expenses of doling out jobs to 1.50 crore people in a state with barely 20 lakh government employees.”

Kishor also took a swipe at the Congress, a key Mahagathbandhan ally. “Even their partners aren’t fully backing him—how can Bihar trust such a fractured setup?” he asked, highlighting the delay in the bloc’s seat sharing deal.

The JSP founder positioned his party as a transformative alternative, predicting that it could win around 150 of 243 seats in Bihar, if voters took a “leap of faith” in the new political dispensation. Emphasising issues like education, jobs and governance, Kishor urged the electorate to move beyond personality-driven campaigns. “This election isn’t about Lalu, Tejashwi or Prashant Kishor—it’s about your children and Bihar’s future,” he said. He also clarified he had no personal CM ambitions, having chosen not to contest the elections to focus on campaigning for his party’s candidates.