New Delhi: The political strategist Prashant Kishor has spoken up against the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, betting that the latter is not returning to power in the November 2025-held assembly elections because of massive dissatisfaction as well as the health-related reasons of the veteran leader.
In a press conference held in West Champaran on March 5, 2025, Kishor, a founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, said that more than 60 per cent of the voters of Bihar are not satisfied with the existing regime. He said that people are hungry to change, and this feeling will transform the election scene. I am writing this to tell you nobody but Nitish Kumar shall be the chief of the state come November, Kishor announced in a soundbite, and he has staked his political career on it.
Kishor also raised concerns over Kumar being physically and mentally able in his leadership abilities because he is an old man of 74 years who could not remember the names of the ministers in the cabinet nor could tell the names of districts without Google. As he pointed out, a person who is incapable of taking care of himself cannot be the leader of Bihar, pointing out the reported abusive language used by late BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi against Kumar when he questioned his mental health. He also rebuked the leadership of Kumar, citing such acts as his difficulty reciting the national anthem.
The Jan Suraaj chief said that the BJP is weakly supporting Kumar have an excuse for its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition in the polls. Kishor said the BJP is aware of the leadership baggage of Nitish but does not dare to go out on its own. He said the Janata Dal (United) will get less than 25 seats, drastically down from its 71 in 2015, and that the BJP will put its own chief minister in place in case the NDA secures victory.
Kishor is confident because his two-year padyatra development and employment. In April 2025, a C-Voter survey made Kumar more popular, at 15% (down from 18% in February), with Kishor gaining popularity to 17.2% (up from 14.9%). Tejashwi Yadav of RJD was ahead with 35.5%, which means a level playing field. Nevertheless, the Kishor party did not perform satisfactorily in the 2024 by-elections because it could not get deposits on 3 seats out of 4 and suffered a net loss of 1 seat in the 2024 Rajya Sabha elections.
All the statements have become controversial, and JD(U) leaders have opposed the statements made by Kishor. System Sanjay Jha termed Kumar as a 100 per cent fit, and the critics have election desperation. With Bihar preparing for the October-November elections, Kishor has become a thorn in the side of the political establishment, and his untested outfit will find it hard going against stronger opponents such as the BJP, JD(U), and RJD.