Days after ending the BJP’s three-decade dominance in Bankipur, Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor has announced an employment initiative for the constituency, pledging to help at least 10,000 young people secure jobs over the next one to two years. He has urged families to submit the CVs and biodata of their educated but unemployed children to his office.
Kishor made the announcement on Tuesday during his first visit to Bankipur following his August 3 bypoll victory. As part of a thanksgiving tour, he met voters and thanked them for placing their confidence in him. Responding to criticism that he had remained away from the constituency for five or six days after his victory, Kishor said, “I am not travelling anywhere. I am working for you.”
He said he would utilise his network of contacts with companies and individuals across the country to help eligible youngsters obtain jobs in the private sector. However, Kishor clarified that he could not guarantee government jobs and acknowledged that some youths might initially need to move outside Bihar for employment.
He appealed to families with educated and unemployed children to prepare their CVs and submit them to his office. Kishor said his objective was to help at least 10,000 families in Bankipur secure employment for their children over the next one to two years.
Kishor said the situation could change if the Jan Suraaj Party forms the government in Bihar. In that scenario, he said, the focus would shift towards generating sufficient employment opportunities within the state so that young people would not need to migrate elsewhere for work.
The employment pledge comes shortly after Kishor secured the Jan Suraaj Party’s first electoral victory on August 3. He defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha by 19,324 votes in the closely watched Bankipur Assembly bypoll. Kishor received 64,151 votes, compared with Sinha’s 44,827, while RJD candidate Rekha Gupta finished third with 14,273 votes.
The victory brought an end to the BJP’s uninterrupted 30-year control of Bankipur, regarded as one of its strongest political strongholds in Bihar. Kishor took an early lead during counting and continued to widen the margin, with his victory becoming virtually certain by the 15th round of the 32-round counting process.
After his win became clear, Kishor said his immediate priority would be to live up to the confidence placed in him by Bankipur voters. He had promised to work towards improving the constituency and said residents would begin noticing changes within two to three months.
Kishor had also sought to manage expectations after the election, saying his victory as an MLA would not transform Bankipur “into Bengaluru overnight”. However, he assured residents that visible improvements would start taking shape within the next few months.
Along with employment, Kishor has identified education, a monthly pension of Rs 1,100 and food grains as his four main priorities for the constituency.
