Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging they have initiated a “dangerous trend of hijacking and intimidating candidates to pull out of the race.”
Kishor’s comments came after three JSP candidates unexpectedly withdrew days before the Bihar assembly polls. Addressing a press conference in Patna, the JSP chief confirmed that the party would not be “cowed down” by the NDA’s “pressure and intimidating tactics.”
He specifically questioned the appearance of Union ministers Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan with his party’s candidates and the circumstances surrounding their sudden withdrawal. “Earlier, the practice of ‘horse trading’…how lawmakers are whisked away to resorts and hotels, was common. But now, the top BJP leadership is involved in holding the people’s choice candidates of JSP, with no past baggage and a clean image, hostage,” Kishor stated.
The JSP, according to Kishor, is being targeted because it offers a new alternative and is “questioning the status quo” with cleaner, passionate candidates. He claimed that over 95% of JSP candidates have a clean image and come from the party’s own cadres. He asserted that while the NDA and the INDIA bloc are not afraid of each other, they are “afraid of JSP” and its emergence as a spoiler to their decades-long dominance.
Kishor urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to intervene and check the “dangerous trend,” arguing, “If the candidates are not safe, how can the voters be expected to vote without fear and temptation?”
He named the three candidates who withdrew suddenly after starting their campaign as Akhilesh Kumar (Danapur), Satya Prakash Tiwari (Brahmapur), and Shashi Shekhar Sinha (Gopalganj), citing “apparent pressure, coercion, and intimidation directly or through family and friends.” Kishor confirmed that 240 JSP candidates remain to “fight it out to end the corrupt regime.”
The JSP leader also highlighted a possible ploy to prevent Drig Narain Prasad, the party’s only Tharu community candidate fielded from the Valmikinagar general seat, from contesting, based on an issue with his resignation as a school teacher.
Kishor pointed out that the constituencies of the withdrawn candidates have strongmen in the fray, such as incarcerated Reet Lal Yadav of the RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) in Danapur and Bahubali [strongman] Hulas Pandey of the LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) in Brahmapur. He referred to rumors that Yadav’s “goons abducted the JSP candidate” in Danapur, who was later seen with Shah and Pradhan. He pressed the ECI to investigate before it “loses all credibility.”
While acknowledging that some candidates may crack under pressure, Kishor affirmed that the JSP, which he described as a “family of 15 million,” would write to the ECI regarding the developments. There was no immediate response from the NDA and the BJP to Kishor’s allegations.