Patna: A day after suffering a complete wipeout in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj has accused the ruling National Democratic Alliance of “buying” its victory through a series of pre-poll cash transfers, including the widely discussed “Das Hazari” scheme for women.
Speaking at the party headquarters in Patna, Jan Suraaj national president Uday Singh, also known as Pappu Singh, said the NDA had benefitted “illegitimately” from the transfer of Rs 10,000 each to 12.1 million women. “It was for the first time that money under a welfare scheme was distributed among voters during an election. But the Election Commission took no cognisance of it. It is not a good sign for democracy,” Singh said.
He alleged that the state government spent Rs 40,000 crore from the exchequer on cash transfers between June and polling day and even tapped into a Rs 14,000 crore World Bank loan to fund them. Singh argued that these measures tilted the playing field and warned that such practices could have long-term consequences for electoral fairness.
The Jan Suraaj leader also acknowledged the party’s failure to convince anti-RJD voters that it was capable of keeping Lalu Prasad’s party out of power. “There were voters who did not want RJD and what they call its Jungleraj to return at any cost. Unfortunately, they did not see Jan Suraaj as strong enough to defeat RJD and their vote shifted to the NDA,” he said.
Jan Suraaj had projected a vote share of around 15% but ended up with less than 4%, according to Election Commission data. “We are surprised and disappointed with the low tally. One major reason was the fear of an RJD comeback among voters,” Singh added.
On being asked about Prashant Kishor’s earlier claim that he would quit politics if the JD(U) crossed 25 seats, Singh said only Kishor could respond but suggested that the comment was made “before the cash transfers to voters, which changed the conditions a lot.”
Singh further claimed that a blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10 had polarised voters in the Seemanchal region, where polling took place the following day in the second phase. However, he dismissed allegations that Jan Suraaj had blamed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for its defeat. “If only four lakh out of 42 lakh names removed from voter lists were significant, it was not much of a factor,” he said.
He also conceded that the party had anticipated the possibility of a dramatic outcome. “Prashant and I had said we could either be at the top or fall flat. We landed at zero. People probably did not take the leap of faith we hoped for.”
State president Manoj Bharti insisted the party would not retreat from public life. “We will continue our movement and work on our pre-determined path. Jan Suraaj will reconnect with supporters and work to strengthen the organisation,” he said.
