Archive · 13 Aug 2026
Prashant Kishor says Samrat Choudhary caused BJP's Bankipur defeat
Prashant Kishor is a leader in Bihar, a state in India.
He started a new political party called the Jan Suraaj Party.
He just won an election to represent a place called Bankipur.
This was the first time his party ever won an election.
The seat he won had belonged to the BJP party for more than 30 years.
Kishor thinks the BJP lost because the state's Chief Minister, Samrat Choudhary, is not popular with people.
He does not think the loss was caused by young people's protests.
Kishor says young people are upset because exams are leaked, coaching institutes cheat, there are not enough jobs, and computers and AI are taking white-collar jobs.
He promised to give families full free ration, help people find jobs, and improve government schools.
He says his main focus will be on education and jobs, and he wants people to vote for good candidates instead of voting by caste or religion.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor won the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, the party's first electoral victory, ending the BJP's uninterrupted hold on the seat for over 30 years.
Kishor says the BJP lost because NDA-appointed Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary lacks broad social acceptance, citing his political track record, educational credentials, and RJD roots, rather than Gen Z protests.
He links the Jantar Mantar and Jharkhand protests to the coaching institute mafia, exam paper leaks, economic stress, unemployment, and AI pressure on white-collar jobs.
Kishor promised Bankipur residents full 5 kg free ration instead of 4 kg, bribe-free ration cards, and private school transfers funded by the JSP if government schools do not improve within a year.
He pledged jobs for at least one member of roughly 10,000 families, saying his focus will remain on education and employment while rejecting opportunistic political alignments like those of 2015.
- Who
- Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), along with Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, and BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha.
- What
- Kishor defeated the BJP in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll — the JSP's first electoral win — and discussed the reasons for the BJP's loss, youth protests, and his promises for the constituency.
- When
- The interview was conducted over a week after the Bankipur bypoll result; the article gives no exact date.
- Where
- Bankipur Assembly constituency in Bihar; related protests took place at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and in Jharkhand, alongside a BJP bypoll defeat in Datia, Madhya Pradesh.
- Why
- Kishor says the BJP lost Bankipur mainly because of Samrat Choudhary's lack of social acceptance, while broader youth unrest stems from paper leaks, education corruption, economic stress, unemployment, and AI's impact on jobs.
Conventional explanations for the loss and protests
Prashant Kishor's explanations
Why the BJP lost Bankipur
Conventional explanations for the loss and protests
Some attribute the defeat to Gen Z protests and youth unrest sweeping the region.
Prashant Kishor's explanations
Kishor says Gen Z unrest had little direct bearing on Bankipur; the BJP lost due to localised factors, chiefly NDA-appointed Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who is not widely accepted as the NDA's face because of his political track record, educational credentials, and RJD roots.
How to read the Jantar Mantar and Jharkhand protests
Conventional explanations for the loss and protests
The events are treated as disconnected incidents that can be suppressed or managed casually.
Prashant Kishor's explanations
Kishor says they point to a much larger structural problem — the coaching institute mafia, paper leaks, economic stress, unemployment, and AI pressure on white-collar jobs — and that this structural dissatisfaction will keep surfacing.
- Winner
- Prashant Kishor (Jan Suraaj Party)
- Defeated candidate
- Neeraj Kumar Sinha (BJP)
- Constituency
- Bankipur, Bihar (Assembly bypoll)
- BJP's hold on seat
- Over 30 years uninterrupted
- Party milestone
- JSP's first electoral win
- Jobs promise
- At least one job for a member of roughly 10,000 families
- Ration promise
- Full 5 kg free ration instead of 4 kg; no bribes for ration cards
- Education promise
- JSP to fund private school transfers if government schools don't improve within a year