Will Prashant Kishor play the kingmaker?

Is the political climate ripe for strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party (JSP)?

- Saubhadra Chatterj

Kishor, who has positioned the JSP as a disruptor in the state's crowded electoral field, promises to improve education and employment in the state and overturn the liquor ban.

On a scorching Thursday afternoon, while half of Sonho —a hamletin Bihar's Saran district lies asleep, four SUVs zip through its dusty roads. Rahul Kumar Singh, the JSP’s candidate for the Amnour seat, arrives with his supporters and soon takes over the narrow lanes to campaign for the upcoming polls.

“We are telling the people that Lalu Prasad had been in power for 15years, Nitish Kumar is enjoying power for 20 years, but the migration from Bihar did not stop. The level of education in Bihar has not enhanced. Bihar has highest illiteracy, but the people are most laborious. There are no factories here. The young people have to leave their family to get low-wage jobs in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Haryana,” Singh said, claiming that the JSP would work extensively towards improving education and jobs.

Hardly a hundred metres away, Sanjay Shukla — who identified himself as a relative of Singh — remained unimpressed with the JSP.“Women recently got ₹10,000 for jeevika (livelihood). The roads are excellent as you can see. There is safety and security,” he said.

In each of the 35 villages this correspondent visited, residents were aware of Kishor, his JSP, and the slew of promises he had made.