Patna – With Bihar heading toward Assembly elections, Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has intensified his outreach to Muslim voters, who make up 17.7% of the state’s population. Kishor has accused the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of sidelining Muslims while using their votes to consolidate Yadav dominance in state politics. He has challenged RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to field 40 Muslim candidates and promised that his own party will do so across Bihar’s 243 seats.
Despite his promises, Kishor faces an image problem within the Muslim community. His role as the chief strategist behind Narendra Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha campaign remains a major obstacle. Muslims continue to associate him with the rise of the BJP, making it difficult for them to trust his political shift. His recent statement urging Muslims to unite against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also failed to resonate.
Past electoral trends show that Muslim voters in Bihar overwhelmingly support the Mahagathbandhan, often cutting across caste lines to defeat the BJP and its allies. In 2020, the RJD fielded 18 Muslim candidates, of whom 8 won. In 2015, 12 out of 16 were successful, helped by the RJD-JD(U) alliance.
Survey data further reflects the skepticism toward Kishor. According to C-Voter, 52.3% of Muslims prefer Tejashwi Yadav as chief minister, 17.4% back Nitish Kumar, and only 13.6% support Kishor. The numbers highlight the gap between Kishor’s ambitions and his acceptance among Muslims, who remain consolidated behind the Mahagathbandhan.
