Patna: Former IPS officer Anand Mishra, who earlier served as the youth wing chief in Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj, is set to join the BJP on Tuesday amid speculation that he could be fielded from Buxar in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Mishra, a 2011-batch officer who took voluntary retirement in late 2023 after postings in Assam and Manipur, had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Buxar as an Independent after failing to secure a BJP ticket, finishing fourth with 47,409 votes as RJD’s Sudhakar Singh won and the BJP’s Mithlesh Tiwari came second.
Reports of Mishra’s BJP switch had intensified since May when he resigned from the Jan Suraaj youth president post, even as Prashant Kishor maintained that while Mishra had stepped down and was inactive, he had not formally quit the outfit at the time.
Mishra had political overtures to the BJP as well in the past and sustained interest in contesting from Buxar, a seat where he hails from and previously campaigned extensively.
Mishra’s entry is expected to recalibrate local equations in Buxar and adjoining constituencies, with party discussions reportedly weighing his administrative profile and recall from his policing tenure—nicknamed “Assam’s Singham” in some reports—against alliance arithmetic and existing claimants. Formal induction details, including timing and venue, are likely to be announced by state BJP leaders.
