The Jan Suraaj Party, founded by former election strategist Prashant Kishor, has levelled serious allegations against the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). A day after failing to win a single seat in its first assembly election, the party claimed that government funds including a large World Bank loan were used to influence voters ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls.
On Saturday, Jan Suraaj national president Uday Singh told reporters that nearly Rs 40,000 crore was spent by the Bihar government between June and the announcement of elections.
According to him, the money was used as “doles and freebies” to “purchase votes” using public funds. He alleged that money taken as a Rs 14,000-crore World Bank loan also diverted for this purpose, calling the scale of spending “unprecedented”.
Singh said his party’s failure to win any of the 243 seats it contested was partly because some voters feared that supporting Jan Suraaj might help the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) return to power. He argued that many people changed their choice at the last moment due to the belief that voting for a new party would split the anti-RJD vote.
He also accused the NDA of crossing “all limits” in using financial incentives to secure a comfortable victory. Singh said that earlier governments had also tried to use benefits to influence voters but this time the spending was far higher. He warned that such actions have left the state government with little money to invest in essential areas such as education, employment and health.
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One of Singh’s major complaints was over the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’, under which Rs 10,000 went to the bank accounts of women across the state shortly before voting. He claimed that payments continued until a day before polling, despite the model code of conduct being in place. He argued that this move changed the minds of many women voters who were struggling financially.
Singh said the NDA would have faced a “huge loss” in the election if this large-scale financial distribution had not happened. He also pointed out that the government increased the old-age pension from Rs 700 to Rs 1,100 per month only after the Jan Suraaj Party promised Rs 2,000.
Senior Jan Suraaj leader Pavan Verma echoed these claims. He added more numbers to the allegations. He said the party had information though he admitted it could be incorrect that money meant for a World Bank project diverted for the scheme that offered Rs 10,000 to women. And he stated that Bihar’s public debt had reached Rs 4,06,000 crore, with a daily interest burden of Rs 63 crore, and claimed that “the treasury is empty”.
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Verma alleged that they withdrew the amount an hour before the election’s model code of conduct took effect, and this amount came in use for cash transfers to 1.25 crore women. He also said many women believed that those who had not received the benefit would get it only if the NDA returned to power which may have influenced voting behaviour.
In an interview, Verma said that while governments may legally shift funds and explain their actions later, the ethical concerns remain. He argued that such transfers during election time change the political environment. He also referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s past criticism of “freebies” during other elections and questioned why the same standards did not apply in Bihar.
Despite contesting almost every constituency, Jan Suraaj could not register a single win. Meanwhile, the NDA swept the polls, securing 202 seats, crossing the 200-seat mark for only the second time, the first being in 2010 when it won 206 seats. The BJP led the alliance with 89 seats, closely followed by the JD(U) with 85. Allies also contributed strongly: LJP(RV) won 19 seats, HAMS got five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha secured four.
The Mahagathbandhan, led by the RJD, managed only 35 seats. The RJD won 25, the Congress six, CPI(ML-L) two, IIP one and CPI(M) one seat.