A Strategist in Bihar’s Caste Cauldron

Prashant Kishor, a Brahmin venturing into the volatile arena of his home state’s politics, is quickly discovering that in Bihar, it is caste that ultimately decides the victor.

Bihar

Prashant Kishor, the ace political strategist turned politician wanting to rewrite volatile Bihar’s rules of political engagement, stares at daunting challenges. Celebrated as the architect of many electoral victories, Kishor was arrested earlier this week following a hunger strike over alleged irregularities in the Bihar Public Service Commission examination. Released on bail hours, he declared victory in the court of public opinion.

Such populist antics apart, his fledgling party, Jan Suraaj, faltered at the first hurdle. In last month’s by-elections, Kishor’s candidates were trounced, their performance a far cry from the strategist’s lofty ambitions of contesting and conquering all 243 seats in the 2025 Bihar Assembly election.

After ‘advising’ politicos to navigate the electoral minefield, Kishor, a Brahmin plunging into his home state’s febrile politics, is fast realizing that Bihar is a battlefield where caste, not strategy, eternally determines the victor. The stark truth that hit Kishor was that Bihar’s caste arithmetic remains unshaken. The BJP retained its dominance, while Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav held their ground.

For all of Kishor’s attempts to present a narrative of governance and development, voters reverted to familiar caste loyalties. Despite his insistence on a post-caste Bihar, Kishor finds himself pigeonholed. His rivals mock his upper-caste identity and accuse him of being a stooge for the BJP, further shrinking his political room.

Kishor’s approach is fraught with contradictions. On the one hand, he denounces caste politics and promises a meritocratic Bihar. On the other, he assures representation to Extremely Backward Classes and tacitly aligns with the findings of Nitish Kumar’s caste survey.

Bihar’s political landscape is unforgiving to ‘outsiders,’ and Kishor’s lack of electoral experience is glaring. Unlike Arvind Kejriwal, who galvanized anti-incumbency in Delhi, Kishor lacks the grassroots momentum of a mass movement. His résumé as a campaign strategist, however impressive, is of little use when building a party from scratch in a state where politics is a blood sport.

The state’s entrenched political players are no less formidable. Nitish Kumar, often dismissed as past his prime, has defied critics with a robust showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Tejashwi Yadav, inheriting his father Lalu Prasad’s mantle, has strengthened the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s base among Yadavs and Muslims. Even Chirag Paswan, scion of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, has managed to keep his Lok Janshakti Party afloat. Kishor, by contrast, has struggled to carve out a distinct constituency.

That said, Bihar has occasionally embraced leaders untethered from its caste matrix—most notably George Fernandes and Madhu Limaye. But both were seasoned socialists with years of grassroots work. In contrast, Kishor, whose career began in the corridors of the United Nations and evolved into political consulting, lacks their ideological moorings. His reliance on rhetoric and digital outreach risks alienating the very voters he seeks to win.

The strategist-turned-politician is not without achievements. His campaigns have powered Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee and Jagan Mohan Reddy to historic victories. But crafting slogans and mobilizing voters are a far cry from navigating the murky waters of Bihar’s politics.

His detractors gleefully point to his missteps, from his ill-fated stint with the JD(U) to his failed rapprochement with the Congress. Kishor’s vision for Bihar—a state free of prohibition, rampant unemployment, and caste-based discrimination—is ambitious but vague. His promise to lift prohibition, while pragmatic, risks alienating women voters who have supported Nitish Kumar for championing the policy. His focus on education and employment is laudable but lacks the specificity needed to sway a sceptical electorate.

The road to the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls is long, and Kishor has time to recalibrate. But for now, Kishor, the much-touted political genius, is struggling to find his footing in his most personal battle yet.