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Prashant Kishor admits ‘mistake’ after Bihar poll loss, regrets not contesting: ‘Played it blind…’
Earlier, JSP's Prashant Kishor took full responsibility of the party's failure in the debut polls in Bihar.
After a big drubbing in the Bihar Assembly elections, poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor went over his decision to not contest, and seemingly regretted it. His Jan Suraaj Party lost its maiden contest in Bihar, failing to win a single seat.
"You can consider that a mistake," Kishor told NDTV in an interview, talking about his decision to not contest, and opening up about the party's poll debacle.
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"If I knew that I would lose, why would I put my resources, money and credibility at stake? I would have easily used all these resources to become an MP or MLA. If I knew that the Jan Suraaj would lose, why would I take such a big risk? I never knew that the party would get 4% of the vote. I never did my own survey, I played it blind," he said.
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JSP's poll debacle and Kishor's maun vrat
Kishor's JSP faced a major setback in its electoral debut, after it failed to win a single seat despite contesting nearly all 243 constituencies in the 2025 Bihar polls.
He later took responsibility for the party's loss and said he will now repent for his failure and said he will take on a maun vrat (vow of silence) for one day.
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“I will work twice as hard as you've seen me work over the past three years and put in all my energy. There's no question of backing down. There's no turning back until I fulfil my resolve to make Bihar better,” Kishor said.
“I will observe a day-long silent fast at the Gandhi Bhitiharwa Ashram on November 20th... We may have made mistakes, but we have not committed any crime,” the JSP founder said, adding that the party conducted its campaigning without spreading caste-based, religion-based hate.
“We have not committed the crime of giving money to the poor, innocent people of Bihar and buying their votes,” he added further.
