New Delhi: Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraj Party, making its debut in the high-profile Bihar Assembly election, announced its first list of 51 candidates on Thursday, a day before nominations open. The slate features doctors, former bureaucrats, artists, academicians and lawyers.
The list includes six Muslim candidates, one transgender candidate — Priti Kinnar, fielded from the Bhorey (SC) seat in Gopalganj district — and five women. According to the party, none of the nominees have criminal cases against them.
Among the prominent names is Lata Singh, the party’s candidate from Asthawan in Nalanda. She is a lawyer at the Patna High Court and daughter of former JD(U) president and Union steel minister R.C.P. Singh, who was later expelled from the JD(U) by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The party has also nominated Professor K.C. Sinha, former Vice-Chancellor of Patna University and an eminent mathematics author who has headed four other state universities, from the prestigious Kumhrar constituency in Patna — traditionally a BJP stronghold with a sizeable Kayastha voter base.
Speaking to this newspaper, Sinha said he had not applied for a ticket but Kishor personally persuaded him. “Prashant Kishor visited my Rajendranagar residence twice in the last couple of days and requested me to contest from Kumhrar. He was my student at Science College, Patna University, and I truly believe he wants to change the face of politics in the state,” Sinha said.
Yadu Vansh Giri, another Patna High Court lawyer, will contest from Manjhi. Kagriti Thakur, granddaughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, has been given the party symbol from Morwa in Samastipur, marking her electoral debut.
Famous Bhojpuri singer Ritesh Ranjan Pandey will contest from Kargahar, while Jai Prakash Singh, a retired 2000-batch IPS officer who earlier served in Himachal Pradesh, has been nominated from Chapra.
Doctors in the fray include Dr B.B. Prasad from Dhaka and Dr A.K. Das, a noted physician from Muzaffarpur. R.K. Mishra, former Director-General of Home Guards, will contest from Darbhanga.
In a state where voting patterns are often shaped by caste alignments, Jan Suraj is hoping to carve space between the BJP-led NDA and the RJD-Congress Grand Alliance by fielding candidates with clean backgrounds and notable professional credentials.
According to independent observers and several BJP leaders, Jan Suraj has already made a visible impact on voter perception, particularly among forward communities. By releasing a candidate list dominated by professionals and public-spirited figures, the party may also push both the NDA and the Grand Alliance to avoid nominating tainted candidates.
