The Jan Suraaj, led by political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor, made its electoral debut in the Bihar assembly elections with considerable fanfare but failed to translate its social media buzz into electoral success. The party's performance, while disappointing for its supporters, offers valuable insights into the challenges of building a political movement from scratch in India's complex electoral landscape.

The Jan Suraaj contested 238 seats across Bihar but failed to open its account, securing zero seats while garnering 3.5% of the total vote share. This performance was remarkably close to predictions made by Votevibe, which had forecast 0-2 seats and a 5.2% vote share for the fledgling party due to its limited organisational strength and electoral appeal. It secured 16.77 lakh votes, around 7,000 per seat. In by-polls on four seats in 2024, it had bagged a 10% vote share. It could get more than 10% votes in just eight seats, and anywhere from 5-10% in 31 seats. 

The results were stark in their consistency. The Jan Suraaj candidates forfeited their deposits in 236 out of 238 contested seats, a humiliating outcome that reflects the party's inability to mobilise even a modest base of support in most constituencies. The party managed to finish as runner-up in only one seat and secured third place in 115 constituencies, demonstrating scattered pockets of influence but no concentrated strength anywhere in the state. Other smaller parties such as the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) continued to hold onto their 2020 seat tallies of five and one, respectively, weakening the Jan Suraaj's prospects of making a dent in their support base.

Despite the overall poor showing, the party did demonstrate some electoral presence in select areas. The Jan Suraaj secured more than 5% of votes in 39 seats and crossed the 10,000-vote mark in 35 constituencies. However, only one candidate - in Marhaura - managed to poll more than 30,000 votes, highlighting the party's failure to create any strong local bastions. 

On 18 seats it scored 10,000-15,000 votes, on 11 seats between 15,000 and 20,000 votes, on three seats 20,000 to 25,000 votes, on........

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