India, Oct. 15 -- With Jan Suraaj founder and its most prominent face, Prashant Kishor Pandey, announcing that he will not contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, the political narrative he had spent two years constructing - that of a credible alternative to both the ruling NDA and the RJD-led Grand Alliance - has suffered a visible jolt.

Kishor, who had earlier hinted that the final decision on his candidature would be taken by the party, has been the de facto head and public strategist of Jan Suraaj since its inception. His long padyatras across the state, exhaustive constituency-level outreach, sharp critique of both the BJP and the RJD and his interviews in which he did not explicitly deny that he will not contest the election...