Pavan Varma, general secretary of the Jan Suraaj Party, has said it would be “a stupendous achievement” if the party gets even 15% of the vote share in the forthcoming Bihar elections. However, he also claimed that it is possible that Jan Suraaj could end up with over 40% of the vote.

In a 30-minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Pavan Varma, who is also the national chief spokesperson of the Prashant Kishor-led party, as well as an author, diplomat and former Rajya Sabha MP, said JSP will damage all three of Bihar’s existing established parties i.e. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD and Narendra Modi’s BJP.

He claimed it is possible that JD(U) itself may not cross 25-30 seats.

Speaking about Prashant Kishor, Varma said that he has made a lifelong commitment to politics in Bihar which will not alter even if Jan Suraaj doesn’t win the elections.

“He (Kishor) has said that his life’s ambition, everything that he has achieved or will achieve, is now committed to bringing about change in Bihar and making it among the ten most economically advanced states. If that takes another five years of effort so be it or more. His life is dedicated to bringing about change in Bihar and providing a moksh (salvation) from these opportunist alliances which have done nothing for the state,” he said.

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