Prashant Kishor calls migrants 'X factor' in Bihar polls amid record voter turnout
The Jan Suraaj Party founder claims Bihari migrants who stayed back after Chhath are urging families to vote; says record turnout confirms a strong yearning for change
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday (November 7) claimed that migrants from Bihar who came home for the Chhath festivities and have not yet gone back to their workplaces are the "X factor" in the Assembly elections.
Jan Suraaj as a credible alternative
The political strategist, whose fledgling party is said to have captured the imagination of "pravasis" (migrants), according to various surveys and opinion polls, made the remark a day after the first phase of polling recorded a record 64.66 per cent turnout.
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"The highest voter turnout since Independence confirms what we have always maintained — there is a strong yearning for change in Bihar, where people have been trapped in a political rut for nearly three decades," Kishor said. He added that people now have a glimmer of hope, with his year-old party emerging as a "credible alternative".
'Migrants are the X factor'
Criticising the NDA, which has been in power since 2005, the Jan Suraaj Party founder said, "They believed they could win by offering a few doles to women. Yes, women turned out in large numbers, but it is the migrants who are the X factor in this election."
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"Having returned home for the festivities, they have stayed back and are urging their families to go out and vote. Their influence is something to watch closely," he asserted.
(With agency inputs)