Bihar a failed state: Prashant Kishor tells Bihari diaspora in US

Washington: Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor has said Bihar is "literally a failed state" which is in "deep shit" and tremendous efforts are required for its all-round development.

In a virtual interaction with the Bihari diaspora community after the launch of the US chapter of the Jan Suraaj, the former poll strategist exuded confidence that his party would win the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls and said that he would lift the ban on alcohol and use the revenue to improve school education.

"We have to realise that this (Bihar) is a state which is in deep shit. If Bihar were a country, it would be the 11th largest country in terms of population in the world. We have just overtaken Japan in terms of population," Kishor told the gathering.

He said the biggest challenge is that society has become "hopeless" about improving the situation of Bihar.

"When you become hopeless, the immediate survival needs become so overpowering that nothing (else) matters," he said.

However, Kishor said, not all is lost.

"Some hope is definitely there because of what we have been doing in the last two and a half years. But to convert this into a tangible electoral outcome and further into a governance outcome (will take time). Anyone who wants to be part of it has to be committed for at least five-six years," he said.

"Even if the government (of the Jan Suraaj) is formed in 2025 and we continue to work hard with this intensity, it would be a big thing if Bihar becomes a middle-income state by 2029-2030. It is literally a failed state as it stands today on all developmental parameters," Kishor said.

"The characteristics of failed states are visible in the population here. For example... sometimes we think... why are people in Sudan fighting for 20 years in the civil war. Because when you are in that failed state, then people are not worried about how our children will study in Sudan. They are worried about who to shoot and where to capture. So that is the situation in Bihar too. And we must be aware of it," he added.

Kishor told the Bihari diaspora community that he was "not trying to scare them" but making them aware of the ground realities and the long road ahead.

"The Jan Suraaj will win in 2025 (Bihar Assembly elections). There is no doubt about it. (Based on my) electoral understanding, I can clearly see that we will win," he said.

He said if the Jan Suraaj is voted to power, his top priority would be improving school education and this would be funded by the revenue generated after lifting the statewide ban on alcohol.

He urged members of the Bihari diaspora in the US to start calling their friends and relatives to support and vote for the Jan Suraaj.

The Jan Suraaj, which was floated in October with much fanfare, failed to make an impact in the recent Bihar Assembly bypolls. The party's candidates lost deposits in all but one seat.

The ruling NDA swept the bypolls, winning all four seats.

Kishor further said the Bihari diaspora has not done much for the development of Bihar.

"I have not seen anything very tangible on the ground. Beyond sessions, I have not seen anything tangible on the ground. Let me be blunt about it. Ultimately, you don't do anything. Don't take it otherwise. But you don't do anything," he told the gathering.