Patna: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday claimed that migrants from Bihar, who returned home for Chhath festivities and have not yet gone back to their places of work, are the “X factor” in the Assembly polls.
The former political strategist, whose fledgling party is said to have caught the imagination of “pravasis”, according to various surveys and opinion polls, made the claim a day after the first phase of voting registered a record 64.66 per cent turnout.
“The highest voter turnout since Independence confirms what we have always been saying - there is a very strong yearning for change in Bihar where the people have been caught in a political rut for about 30 years,” said Kishor.
He claimed that the people now had a glimmer of hope with his one-year-old party emerging as an alternative that was viable.
Berating the NDA, which has been in power since 2005, the Jan Suraaj Party founder said: “These people had thought that they can win by offering some doles to women. Yes, women turned up in large numbers, but it is the migrants who are the X factor in this election”.
“Having returned home for the festivities, they have stayed back and are encouraging their family members to go out and vote. Their impact is something to watch out for,” he asserted.
“Those who thought that women would decide the election simply because they received financial assistance of Rs 10,000 are mistaken,” he said, challenging presumptions that female votes alone would decide the outcome. Beyond women, foreign laborers are the election’s X factor.
No political analyst, party, or leader had anticipated such an increase in voter turnout, Kishor emphasized. Nobody anticipated such surprise voting in Bihar. Young people have cast the most votes for the first time. They are voting for their future—for progress and change in Bihar—and they have cast the most vigorous ballots, he remarked.