Prashant Kishor interview: ‘NDA, especially Nitish, is being overestimated and Jan Suraaj being underestimated. We will be a big factor’

* The JSP is holding its first rally following your padayatra, which covered 20 of the state’s 38 districts. What were the takeaways from the yatra?

There is a pressing demand for ‘badlav (change)’ in the political set-up that has been ruling the state for the past 35 years, where leaders like (LJP founder) Ram Vilas Paswan, (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad, (BJP leader) Sushil Kumar Modi and Nitish Kumar dominated. Ram Vilasji and Sushilji are no more while Lalu and Nitish are not in a position to rule owing to their failing health. People want new faces and a new dispensation.

Secondly, there was an overwhelming number of complaints about afsarshahi (lower bureaucracy) and rampant corruption. Some other key issues are migration, poor quality of education and unemployment.

* Parliament just passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill amid stiff resistance from the Opposition. Do you think it will lead to polarisation and shrink the space for a new political entrant like the JSP, which has been making efforts to cultivate Muslim voters at the expense of the RJD and Congress?

The founding fathers (of the country) and makers of our Constitution clearly described our motto and objectives. One needs to judge successive governments, especially at the Centre, based on how they adhere to these objectives.

With regard to the Waqf Bill, the resistance from the Opposition clearly suggests that the Muslim community, for whom the Bill was intended, was not taken into confidence.

Discussions on the Bill have exposed Lalu, whose old speech supporting an amendment in the Waqf law was quoted (by Union Home Minister Amit Shah) in Parliament. Lalu has been seen for long as the rahnuma (leader) of the Muslims but now the community needs new leaders. Nitish, who enjoyed the support of a significant chunk of the Muslim community, also stands exposed after his party supported the Bill.

As for the polarisation bid, the BJP tried to do this even with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and (the ban on instant) triple talaq. Muslims have seen through the motives of the NDA as well as the INDIA bloc. This is where the JSP has emerged as an option for Muslims as well as the entire state.

* Your opponents term your party vote katua ‘(vote cutter)’ and accuse you of poaching disenchanted leaders from main parties. What do you think would be the deciding factors in the Assembly polls?

The fact that political parties have been speaking about us and are afraid shows that we are on the right track. About weaning away leaders, we will declare all our 243 candidates earlier than other parties. In accordance with our party’s principles, we will field candidates from each social and religious group in proportion to their population.

The NDA, especially Nitish, is being overestimated while the JSP is being underestimated. We are going to be a big factor.

The two main factors which will influence the Assembly polls include Nitish’s failing health and his leadership. The moment the NDA announces him as its CM face and he is not able to address the crowd, people may make up their mind to look beyond him.

The JSP is surely a factor that will influence the results of the polls.

* Are you seeing yourself just as an influencer in the 2025 polls and have set your sights on the 2030 polls?

Not at all. We are thinking about the 2025 polls. The youth and students will show how desperately they want a change. The coming polls will break old theories and myths.

* How do you see RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav faring in the polls? Do you see the elections as a clash between this generation of leaders, like you, Tejashwi, Chirag Paswan and Kanhaiya Kumar?

I often say Tejashwi’s identity is only that he is Lalu’s son. Chirag is surely the leader of his party but I do not see much in the Congress yatra being led by Kanhaiya. Once the INDIA bloc decides Tejashwi as its leader, Kanhaiya’s and the Congress’s posturing will lose relevance, like how BJP leader Samrat Choudhary got relegated after Nitish returned to the NDA in January last year. Samrat has no pan-Bihar appeal. After Sushil Modi, the BJP does not have a leader in the state.

* There has been speculation about Nitish’s son, Nishant Kumar, entering politics. Will he be a factor?

Whatever little information we have, he is not joining politics, though there could be a set of people who want him to join. I stick to my standard line of not speaking much about those who are not in politics.

* The JD(U) has often sought to know how your party is being funded and has also mentioned some companies which are supporting you…

Whatever one is speaking about the companies is already in the public domain. There is complete transparency in our funding and we have clearly mentioned the individuals or companies that are supporting us.