Bihar has the largest anti-incumbency forces, providing a lot of scope for new parties: Prashant Kishor

New Delhi:

Political strategist Prashant Kishore says there is a lot of scope for new parties in Bihar as there is a strong ideological support led by Lalu Prasad Yadav or Nitish Kumar The party has “the greatest degree of anti-incumbency” after similar groups ruled for nearly 35 years.

His remarks came as his “Jan Suraaj” pilgrimage in his hometown is expected to end ahead of the formation of a political party ahead of parliamentary elections later next year.

Kishore said that once the party takes shape, it will participate in every election.

When asked whether there are two strong regional parties in Bihar, the RJD led by Yadav and the Janata Party led by Kumar, in addition to the strong BJP, Left Party and Congress. There is room for one more party in the state, he told PTI. There is more space than other countries.

“Almost similar organizations built around Lalu and Nitish have been around for 35 years. They have more or less similar ideologies,” he said, pointing to issues like social justice, socialism and “jungle rule” as these Has been around for years.

“The anti-incumbency sentiment is the greatest there. There has been no fundamental change in 35 years. In my opinion, there is still room,” he said.

Stating that one of the stated objectives of his ‘yatra’ was that people associated with it would form a political party, he said once such a party is formed, it will contest every election.

Before launching the ‘padyatra’ in Bihar, Mr. Kishore had worked with many political parties to craft their campaigns, often successfully, with the stated aim of ushering in changes and promoting development in the backward state. Mr Kishore said he did not think he had done anything significantly different.

He said his previous advice to political parties and their leaders was now to communicate directly with people, whether it was issues they should raise or building grassroots organisations.

He said when he started the ‘Jan Suraaj’ pilgrimage on October 2, 2022, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, he planned to identify 20 “right” people in each block but received a massive response , 2,500 to 3,000 people are willing to participate as its founding members.

Mr Kishore said he had visited 60 per cent of the state so far.

When asked what role he saw himself playing in a possible political party, he compared himself to a potter, gathering raw materials to make a good clay pot.