Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor addresses ‘Yuva Samvad’ event, in Patna
| Photo Credit: PTI
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, hit back on questions raised over the funding sources of his party on Wednesday (February 12, 2025), saying he owed his earnings “to his intellect”. Mr. Kishor also took dig at the BJP and asked why the “youth of Gujarat get all the money?”
“Anybody blessed by goddess Saraswati is sure to receive blessings from goddess Lakshmi as well. All that I have earned, I owe it to my buddhi [intellect]”, Mr. Kishor said while addressing a party function at Jan Suraaj’s camp office, the Bihar Satyagraha Ashram, in Patna.
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On February 10, Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar had announced that the JD(U) would “seek legal advice before submitting a formal request to the Election Commission of India, the Economic Offence Unit [EOU] of the Bihar Police and other relevant authorities, for an investigation into Jan Suraaj’s financial sources”. The JD(U) leader also alleged that Jan Suraaj was funded by a Bengaluru-based charitable organisation and Mr. Kishor had “donated” ₹50 lakh to that organisation. “It appeared to be an instance of tax fraud,” he alleged.
Mr. Kumar further said a dozen companies with paid-up capital of ₹1 lakh each had donated ₹1 crore to Mr. Kishor’s party through the charitable organisation and “the directors of this charity organisation change every two years, raising suspicions about the legitimacy of the donations”.
Mr. Kishor founded Jan Suraaj in Patna on October 2, 2024. He also took out a 5,000-km padyatra (foot march) across the State to “connect” with the people. His party contested the byelections to four seats in Bihar in November 2024 and lost all.
Mr. Kishor, who is aiming to make an impact in the Assembly election due in October-November, also took a veiled dig at the BJP alleging that “all the country’s riches were going to Gujarat”. “Should only the youth of Gujarat get all the money when power is achieved through votes of the youth of Bihar? This will not be tolerated anymore. The youth of Bihar are not going to be a source of cheap labour forever.”
Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah hail from Gujarat and Mr. Kishor had managed the Assembly election campaign for Mr. Modi as a political strategist in 2012.
“I never was an IAS or IPS officer or was in any other government service. Neither was I a contractor, MP or MLA. My earnings will ensure that money does not remain a problem for the youth of Bihar,” said Mr. Kishor, who earlier had announced that “Jan Suraaj would bear the election expenses of candidates who do not have enough money to contest the election”.
On February 11, Jan Suraaj convener R.N. Singh announced that there would be a “three-level evaluation process for those willing to contest the upcoming State Assembly election on the party’s symbol”. An 11-member central election committee would conduct the assessment of candidates in the third and final stage, he said.
Published – February 12, 2025 08:54 pm IST