Prashant Kishor floats Jan Suraaj Party; names Manoj Bharti working president

PATNA: Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced the launch of his political outfit Jan Suraaj Party, a much-anticipated move by which he hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm.

Kishor also named Manoj Bharti, a Madhubani-born former Indian Foreign Service Officer, as working president of the party, saying the latter will hold the post till March next year when organisational polls will be held.

The party was launched at Veterinary College Ground in the state capital in the presence of many renowned figures, including former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma and ex-MP Monazir Hassan.

The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state, from Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the first Satyagraha in the country, in a bid to mobilise the people for a "new political alternative" that could cure Bihar of its chronic backwardness.

Speaking on the occasion, the I-PAC founder who gave up political consultancy a few years ago, said, "Jan Suraaj has been a campaign aimed at making the people of Bihar understand that they have not been able to get quality education and job opportunities because they have never voted on these issues. We may be mocked by cynics who will say how will we fulfil promises like putting an end to migration. But we have a blueprint."

"We will need more than Rs 4 lakh crore to improve education in the state. We will raise the money by scrapping the prohibition law which is annually causing losses to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. I reiterate that once Jan Suraaj comes to power, the ban on liquor will be scrapped within one hour," said the 47-year-old leader, who is known to be a strident critic of the move by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his former mentor.

"We do not need empty slogans of special status. But we will compel banks to make available to the state capital in proportion to savings deposited by its people. At present, it seems money saved by Biharis is being put to use elsewhere," Kishor added.

In his nearly hour-long speech, he underscored that Jan Suraaj would be a party with a difference with provisions in its constitution which were "never before seen in any political outfit".

"Our candidates in elections will not be decided by a high command. They will be chosen directly by the people based by their impressions of aspirants in their constituency. It will be on the lines of the US presidential polls," Kishor said.

"We will also bring in the right to recall. This will ensure that non-performing elected representatives cannot, upon victory, start taking it easy believing that they can enjoy perks of their office for five years. If people get fed up mid-term, they would be recalled by their electors," he said.

Kishor said he was not intent on directly managing the party as he was more interested in carrying forward the Jan Suraaj campaign as part of which he has travelled "half of the state".

He said that the party will be headed by "a president whose term will be of one year" and run by a "leadership council with a two-year tenure".

Kishor said his party was keen on giving representation to people from all segments of society though the criterion will be merit and not caste or religion.

Citing the example of Bharti, he said, "Our party's founding members were of the view that the first president should be a Dalit. However, Bharti's social background was not the deciding factor. He was chosen because of other qualities like his bright academic career and professional experience."

A 1988-batch IFS officer, Bharti has served as India's ambassador to countries such as Indonesia and Ukraine. A bright student, he did his schooling from Netarhat and obtained degrees in engineering from IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi.

Kishor said the new party would have "pictures of both Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar" on its emblem and an application to this effect will be sent to the Election Commission.

Exuding confidence that the newly floated outfit would win the assembly polls due next year, he declaimed, "Let us set the tone right now. Let us resolve to win byelections to four assembly seats which are due next year."

"We are going to win Bihar but that will not be the end. We will ensure that state becomes the veritable political compass for the entire country," he asserted.