When Prashant Kishor launched the Jan Suraaj Party in Bihar, it seemed like the state’s politics was headed for a shake-up. His sharp attacks on Nitish Kumar’s government had begun to attract attention. Kishor’s campaigns, involving meticulous data analytics and aggressive media strategies, had dominated the political chatter, at least in state and national media. However, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which concluded last month, seems to have shifted the spotlight away from Kishor and back onto the Mahagathbandhan.
Kishor's public meetings and local interactions would earlier draw crowds and his speeches would be widely circulated online. But the arrival of Gandhi’s yatra, according to party insiders, changed the narrative. A party insider said, "Earlier, the opposition bloc did not have enough content to show to people or post there on social media; now they have enough content which they can share and circulate among themselves. This process will consolidate the idea of solid opposition among people."
Party insiders suggest that the Congress, learning from the BJP’s own playbook, has moved to seize the digital advantage and turn it into grassroots mobilization. “The Congress has adopted BJP-style outreach. It is not only creating noise online but also translating that into street-level politics,” a senior opposition leader said.
Kishor, on the other hand, continues to depend heavily on digital traction. But questions are being raised about the nature of his audience. “If Prashant Kishor gets 10 lakh views on a speech on the internet, at least 8 lakh are from outside Bihar,” an opposition leader in the content analysis team of social media claimed. “Even I watch his videos, but I am not his voter," another political observer said, "less than 20 percent of his viewers are actually from the constituencies that matter.”
This disconnect between online attention and ground reality has reduced the momentum of the Jan Suraaj, the party that was earlier seen picking up in the narrative war against the two primary camps. In rural Bihar, where elections are ultimately decided, Kishor has yet to build a strong presence. “There is a lack of information about the party and our agenda in villages,” a party insider of Jan Suraaj said. While Kishor’s messaging appeals to educated and urban audiences, the Congress’s yatra, carrying the weight of Rahul Gandhi’s national profile, has been able to penetrate deeper into rural constituencies.
Yet, it would be premature to write Kishor off just like that. His counter-narratives against the BJP’s communication machinery have been forceful and, at times, disruptive. In fact, many opposition insiders credit him with indirectly strengthening the Mahagathbandhan’s case by challenging the government’s claims on governance, development, and corruption. Apparently, whatever Kishor has been saying against the ruling camp is in some way picked up by Mahagathbandhan and used against the ruling camp, as they use the same logic in another version of the example.
What has clearly tilted the balance, however, is scale. The Mahagathbandhan, with its vast electoral machinery, has been able to amplify its campaign in ways Kishor cannot yet match. Rahul Gandhi’s yatra brought together multiple opposition figures under one platform, presenting the image of a united front against the NDA. Gandhi walking alongside regional leaders sent a message that the opposition was not fragmented, but prepared to act collectively.
Kishor’s challenge, therefore, lies in translating his personal popularity into a durable political base. For now, Congress seems to have stolen a march by borrowing his tactics, using vote chori narrative and putting them together with their established ground network.
Bihar’s politics has often been unpredictable, with caste equations, alliances, and last-minute swings determining outcomes. Kishor may still have a chance to play spoiler or even kingmaker if his campaign resonates more deeply in the coming months. For now, though, Rahul Gandhi’s yatra has ensured that the national spotlight, which briefly belonged to Kishor, is once again firmly fixed on the Congress.