'Rs 2,000 Pension, Jobs For Youth, Free Education In Private Schools': Prashant Kishor's Counter To Nitish, Tejashwi In Bihar

Bihar Election 2024: Testing the waters for the first time as a founder of a political party, Prashant Kishor is holding small rallies across Bihar. Up against two giants - Nitish Kumar's JDU and Tejashwi Yadav's RJD, political strategist turned politician, Kishor is trying to hit the rivals where it hurts the most in Bihar's political landscape. In his latest political campaign, Jan Suraaj founder Kishor made three promises to the people of Bihar. This included a monthly pension for the elderly, jobs for youth and free education in private schools funded by the state government.

Addressing a gathering, Kishor said that once voted to power, the Jan Suraaj government would ensure that people who are going out of Bihar in search of unskilled jobs would get similar jobs in the state and would be able to earn Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 per month. The Jan Suraaj founder then promised to increase the monthly pension amount five times. "The Nitish government is giving Rs 400 pension like distributing alms. Once our government is formed, we would give Rs 2,000 pension per month to every man, woman aged over 60," he said.

Kishor further said that poverty cannot be eliminated without a good education. "Until Bihar's government schools become better, children aged below 14 years would get state-sponsored education in private schools," he said.

Bihar would go to the polls around November next year where Jan Suraaj would compete against the NDA (BJP, JDU, LJP-RV, HAM) and the INDIA bloc (Congress, RJD, CPIM). Since migration and poverty are two big concerns for Bihar which have remained unsolved for decades, Kishor is trying to strike a chord with the people of the state by making promises around these burning issues. However, only the result would tell the magnitude of success cashed in by the debutant party.