Can Prashant Kishor's JSP reshape Bihar amid education gaps and migration

Patna, Is the political climate ripe for strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP)? While Kishor is a household name in Bihar, his party faces an uphill task to win the political trust of many voters. Kishor has positioned the JSP as a disruptor in the state's crowded electoral field, promising to improve education and employment and to overturn the liquor ban.

On a scorching Thursday afternoon, while half of Sonho, in 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 15 years, 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 30 villages this correspondent visited, residents were aware of Kishor, his JSP, and the slew of promises he had made.

Key among them are the repeal of Bihar’s liquor prohibition within hours of coming to power, an increase in the monthly pension for those aged 60 and above to ₹ 2,000, a relief package linking migrant workers and farmers directly to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and free schooling for children.

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