I Walked In Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Yatra For A Day — Here Are My Top Six Observations

Everyone is talking about Prashant Kishor and his Jan Suraaj. Kishor began his long padyatra (journey by foot) on 2 October 2022 from West Champaran and has traversed through more than 5,500 villages in the last two years. 

For the initial 15 months it was quite a low-profile journey. However, as 2024 is moving into the past and we head into 2025, the year of the Bihar assembly election, Kishor and his yatra are attracting attention and headlines.

In his dozens of interviews, Kishor has discussed how people are responding to him, what are his plans for Bihar, how he aims to strike down established notions around identity politics and how many people are there with him.

According to Kishor, more than one crore Biharis will be founding members of the party that is scheduled to be launched on 2 October 2024. 

My Day With Jan Suraaj

On 20 September 2024, I rushed to Supaul district (200 km away from location) on a short notice to catch Kishor's yatra in the area. I managed to reach Jiwacchpur village just in time — the place where Kishor delivered his first speech of the day. From there on, Kishor started his walk extending more than 12 km.

A crowd of 500-700 people accompanied him from the village. It comprised of his team of volunteers and local villagers. Some villagers accompanied him till the village border while the other group walked along as far as they could.

With time, the size of the group kept increasing with youth being the most enthusiastic demographic. Women also showed up in large numbers — a lot of them just wished to greet and thank him. All this while, Jan Suraaj volunteers were engaged in maintaining order.

In total, Kishor stopped at five places to address the crowd that day. Local politicians, especially Kishor Kumar Munna, former member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Saharsa were present with him. 

A distinctive characteristic of these locations is that they were typically unconventional. For example, in Belaganj, the gathering took place in a farmer’s courtyard, while in Bhagwatpur, it was held in a mango orchard known as Yaqub’s Aam Ka Bagicha.

As I journeyed with him, I engaged with various individuals about his approach, Bihar’s political landscape, and the feasibility of Kishor’s promises.

1. People Are Interested But Fear A Repeat Of The Past

Being different is the unique selling point of Kishor. In his speech, he does not ask for votes, but attempts to shape voting choices. For instance, he explains how Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) voters got what they wanted — Ram Mandir and five kg ration among others.

Similarly, he softly chides the older population by saying that they have destroyed their lives, but can make a redemption by voting for their children. During his speeches, the crowd is largely silent, indicating that they listen to him carefully.

There is genuine buzz around Kishor but there is also an apprehension that he, too, will turn out to be 'more of the same'.

People in the crowd and yatras are finally realising that there is more to politics than Lalu Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi. “Look, problems are a lot here, unemployment is the biggest of them. This village has been same for last 30 years and he is the only one talking about it,” said Junaid.

However, he is still uncertain to vote for Jan Suraaj due to a general mistrust of politicians. Kishor’s history of working with different political parties is also an inhibiting factor.

An old man sitting near us interrupted by saying, “Here he is abusing Nitish and Lalu, while in 2015 he was the one who helped them come. Can you trust him?”

Shivchandra, who had travelled 50 km from main town Supaul to attend the event however said that he (Kishor) will definitely bring a change. When asked about whether he will vote for Jan Suraaj in 2025 assembly elections, the response was, “It is still one year to go, how can I say now?”

The writer then highlighted the inconsistency in his stance, to which Shivchandra replied that he has lived through 52 winters and witnessed how quickly politicians shift their positions. “Yeah, he speaks well, but people do not look in a mood to vote for him right now,” he added.

2. How Do Women Look At The Jan Suraaj Movement?

The women’s row was the most attentive of the bunch while listening to Kishor’s speech.

Apart from lack of livelihood opportunities, the biggest tragedy for many Bihari women is that their husband and kids meet them only once or twice a year — due to migration.

Kishor assured them that by the time they return for Chhath in 2025, this issue will be resolved, as jobs offering a salary of Rs10,000-15,000 per month would be available nearby. He also promised incentives for children's education and support for starting their own businesses.

After listening to him, a woman named Ranjana Kumari went up to Kishor with her kid just to make him aware about her problems. She said she already had two daughters at home and was finding it hard to raise them.

Though she could not meet Kishor, someone gave her Rs 200 and she seemed happy. When I asked whether that would be enough, she responded, “No one gives me even that much. I want to teach my daughters but can’t do it. Let me go ahead to meet him, he will certainly help me”.

Around a difficult road in the village, more than half a dozen women were discussing Kishor's promises. An old lady was apprehensive about them. “If it was that easy, would Nitish Kumar had not done it himself?” she said. 

“Have you ever seen Nitish walking barefooted? I have heard that he (Kishor) is doing it in the whole of Bihar. Did anyone promise us English education for our kids? He is doing it,” responded another. 

But when asked whether they would vote for Jan Suraaj, the unanimous response was that they would consult with male members of their community.

I halted at a shop to buy water and asked a woman at the counter about Kishor and his movement. “Religious leaders give call to the community and that is how we tend to vote,” said Sama Parveen, the shop owner (name changed).

3. Reactions To Specific Promises Made By PK

During his speeches, Kishor made five promises:

1. Jan Suraaj will ensure that every person will be earning Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 per month in their home district.

2. Jan Suraaj will provide school fee and other expenses for poor children taking admission in schools — especially English medium.

3. Every old person above 60 years of age will be given Rs 2,000 per month as pension — instead of current amount of Rs 400.

4. For women willing to start their own businesses, interest rate on loans would only be 4 per cent.

5. For farmers, who wish to grow cash crops like vegetables, spices, Jan Suraaj will provide labour charges.

For locals, most of these promises seemed untenable. Piyush, a young graduate attending the yatra said that for women starting their business, a sense of security has to be there. Gita Devi, who runs a grocery shop, had different concerns: “What we will do with loans and new business. Here people ask us for as low as Re 1 discount. Even if we prepare something, who will buy it,” said Gita Devi. Mohammed Sarvar Alam, who has his shop in the main market, agrees.

However, he does believe that increasing the pension is a long standing demand and can be done. “Increasing it by 300 per cent is certain to fetch him votes from old people,” said Alam. 

Interestingly, if their migrant children do not turn up, it can have a significant impact on the elderly population. Although, as per Kishor's promise, Jan Suraaj volunteers are trying their best to convince families about their plan of bringing the children back (Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 monthly income).

Few farmers I interacted with did not find growing cash crops to be plausible. “Kishor’s people did not give him the right input. The soil here is not appropriate for the kind of crop he is asking us to grow,” said Vinod, who has 33 bighas of land. His colleagues nodded in agreement.

What about subsidising children’s education? They did not even want to discuss that. “Private schools will induct those who pay fee upfront or those who promise to pay after the government's subsidy comes,” said Shivam, his nephew who studies in Class XII.

4. BJP, RJD 'Misusing' Jan Suraaj Tag? 

It is certain that Jan Suraaj has been able to penetrate into the cadre base of major parties like Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). RJD has been the most miffed of them all.

Along with a significant cadre base, Jan Suraaj is also working hard on ground to take control the narrative. 

However, even people working for Jan Suraaj acknowledge that it is going to be hard. En route Jama Masjid chowk, three persons between 40-60 were accompanying the yatra. They had listened to his speech.

When I discussed Jan Suraaj’s future, they seemed positive and said that Kishor has been ticking the right boxes. “Unemployment, migration and lack of opportunity are big issues here and he does right by talking about them,” said one of them.

“So, you expect him to do good for your kids and grandkids?” I asked. They all said, yes. However, on voting, the oldest one of the bunch said, “He does say very good things, but I will keep voting for RJD as Tejashwi Yadav is emerging as a good leader”. BJP voters also echoed similar sentiments.

BJP and RJD are also running campaigns for party membership. While Shailendra Mohan (a Jan Suraaj member) and myself were taking a break, an old man came with a phone and asked me to check whether he is a member or not. 

Turns out, the message was for BJP membership and one person had drawn him towards it saying that it was Jan Suraaj’s membership drive. 

Mohan pounced on this opportunity and said, “That is what happens when you are not educated. Your time is gone, now you should make sure that your children get educated. So, choose Jan Suraaj”. 

It has been alleged that both the RJD and BJP are enrolling members by misleading them into believing they are joining Jan Suraaj. Interestingly, supporters from both parties also label Jan Suraaj as the "B team" of their respective rivals.

5. Caste, Religion, PK And Jan Suraaj

One reason why positive momentum is yet to transform into assurance of votes for Jan Suraaj could be its overt appeal of detachment from the religion and caste factors.

In Bihar, every party has created its own religion and caste chhatrap. Suddenly, Kishor enters the political arena and starts to rebuke people for voting on these lines. There is of course rationale to his appeal but is his argument stronger than the bonds of religious identity and caste association?

In one of his interactive sessions, he asked people about their choices. “Do you need caste or education?” asked Kishor. Many times the crowd went silent. 

In the Mahaddipur village, he had to repeat this question four to five times to get a loud answer from the public. It seemed as though the crowd had never considered voting based on issues beyond caste and religion.

An influential local who refused to be named said that the communal and caste tension does not exist in the area but both these factors decide voting choices. “Intellectual people from all sections of society — be it Hindu, Muslim, Brahmin, Nishad or Yadav etc are tilting towards Jan Suraaj, but they can’t win election,” he said.

Percolating the message of transcending caste and communal factors, down to the economically deprived sections of the population, will not be easy. Yatris in Jan Suraaj camp also understand it.

“We spend so much time in making them understand but just before election someone will come, tell them about caste and religion, offer liquor and mutton and we will be out of race,” said one of the Jan Suraajis.

Kishor is likely to address the shortcomings in appealing to religious and caste lines in ticket distribution. He has committed to ensuring proportional representation for every religious and caste group in the state.

6. PK — The Benevolent Dictator?

One noticeable aspect of Jan Suraaj Yatra is the lack of chaos for a quasi-political unit. Right from the yatra to taking care of special needs of the public or even staying in tents, everything was seemed done to a plan.

A consultant involved in the yatra said that PK does not want any mistakes and everything should be in line with the best of facilities available in the area. “We have been trying our best. If you go and ask anyone whose party has the best workers, the first answer would be Jan Suraaj,” he said.

The logistical arrangements were in line with what I had heard from my contact in Jan Suraaj. “He just wants things his own way which is why he is taking on such a massive yatra himself,” said this person (name omitted for obvious reasons).

In the morning, around a dozen people had come to meet him and all were waiting outside. Sitting close to them was another person aware of Kishor’s daily routine. One of the guests asks whether they could go inside his caravan. The person responded, “No one goes inside until he calls”.

People staying in camp agreed that he likes things a certain way. “For Bihar it has become highly necessary. The state has seen the consequences of complacency. Now it is time for swift and direct action,” said one volunteer.

Another one who has been with the team for more than three months said, “It is not like he is looting someone. He is spending own money and wants betterment of Bihar. Let him do it in his own way”.

Countdown To Launch

Nearly two weeks before the scheduled launch of his political party, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Yatra resembles both a novel experiment and a monumental gamble. While Kishor has managed to spark conversations around key issues like unemployment, migration, and education, the task has not even begun.  

Even if he convinces voters that his appeal to transcend caste and religion-based politics is sincere, he would still have to contend with the inertia as regards to both identities. His promises, while ambitious, are met with scepticism from locals, with many hesitant to commit their support just yet.

Kishor says that voting pattern in Bihar can be changed by a big wave. He gives data points for the same. Data points given by Kishor have helped other politicians in the past collect massive majorities for themselves. Let us see whether Kishor can help himself in the same way.