Prashant Kishor, a candidate contesting the Bankipur bypoll in Bihar, has declared assets worth 96 crore rupees in his official election affidavit. Filed before the Returning Officer, the affidavit details Kishorโs personal holdings, which include movable assets valued at 22.19 crore rupees and immovable properties worth 73.87 crore rupees. His wife, Jahnavi Das, a medical practitioner from Assam, holds 89.51 crore rupees in movable assets alongside 12.42 crore rupees in immovable property. Kishor, a prominent election strategist-turned-politician, is contesting the seat recently vacated by BJP leader Nitin Nabin. The BJP has since fielded 32-year-old Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha for the contest, following the withdrawal of Abhishek Kumar “Bunty”.
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Speaking on Monday, Kishor described his nomination as a broader call for political reform in Bihar, asserting that individuals with criminal records must step down from positions of power. Before submitting his nomination papers, he visited the Baba Hariharnath Temple in Sonepur to offer prayers, later marching to the Patna collectorate from the Scout Guide Ground near the Sinha Library, accompanied by a large gathering of supporters and party workers.
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The bypoll marks Kishor’s personal electoral debut. Following the West Bengal assembly election results in May 2021, he announced his retirement from political consultancy and shifted his focus entirely to Bihar. He subsequently launched the Jan Suraaj Abhiyan on October 2, 2022, embarking on a statewide foot march and pledging to no longer strategise for external political parties. Although Jan Suraaj made its formal electoral debut in the Bihar state elections earlier this year, the party failed to secure any seats.
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According to his financial disclosures, Kishor currently carries an outstanding bank loan of 5.77 crore rupees. His wife’s property portfolio includes two flats and a one-third share in a bungalow in Guwahati, as well as real estate in Noida. Kishorโs own property holdings consist of two flats in a Ghaziabad apartment complex, a 50 per cent share in two additional flats, and plots of land in Patna’s Pataliputra Colony and Delhiโs Vasant Vihar, alongside inherited and acquired properties in Buxar and his ancestral village.
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The affidavit also notes that Kishor is the owner of Vedha Venture Private Limited. This body has donated 85 crore rupees to Jan Suraaj for the financial year of 2024-25 after having donated 50 lakh rupees to Jan Suraaj Foundation and 2.75 crore rupees to Joy of Giving in 2023-24.
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Additionally, the disclosure shows that there are eight pending criminal cases filed by the police against Kishor, wherein the charges include defamation, obstruction of public duty, and fraud, but none of these cases have any charge sheet yet. Education-wise, Kishor has completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from Lucknow University, Master of Healthcare Management from Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, and French language certificate.
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Also read: SC rejects Prashant Kishor’s plea on ‘cash lure’ in Bihar polls
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