Jan Suraj spokesperson and senior party strategist Pawan Verma has made serious allegations that the funds allocated for a project supported by the World Bank were used by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Bihar assembly elections. According to him, the funds allocated by the World Bank were distributed among the women voters under the Chief Minister Mahila Rojgar Yojana in the election-bound state. He said Rs 10,000 were deposited into the accounts of 1.25 crore women in Bihar, but claimed there was doubt over the timing and source of the money.
Claim to use World Bank money
In an interview with ANI, Verma cited information received by the party. He said that the government debt in Bihar is currently Rs 4,06,000 crore. The daily interest is Rs 63 crore. The treasury is empty. He then said that the party had heard – although he said this may be false – that the transfer of Rs 10,000 was made from the Rs 21,000 crore that came from the World Bank for some other project. He also claimed that “an hour before the implementation of the election code of conduct, Rs 14,000 crore was withdrawn and distributed among 1.25 crore women of the state.
Voters are influenced
Verma stressed that he was not presenting this information as established fact. He said, as I said, this is our information. If this is wrong, I apologize. But if this is true, then the question arises how ethical it is. He suggested that governments could legally redistribute wealth and later justify their decisions, but warned that such transfers inevitably sway voters during elections. She also mentioned the rumors spreading among voters: “There are 4 crore women voters in Bihar, and 2.5 crore have not received the amount. The rest of the women feel that if the NDA does not come to power, we will not get the benefits.
The scheme changed the electoral equation
The Jan Suraj leader argued that this sudden financial distribution had tarnished the message of his new party. He said that being a new party our ambitions were excessive, but our message was right and the response was good. When asked whether schemes like Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana had changed the electoral equation, he pointed to the Prime Minister’s previous comments. He asked that Prime Minister Modi himself has criticized giving free things. He may have said this in the context of Delhi Assembly and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. What happened in Bihar now?
There is no harm in the statement of lifting the liquor ban
Verma rejected the suggestion that the party’s disappointing performance was due to founder Prashant Kishore’s statement that he would lift prohibition if voted to power. He argued that liquor prohibition in Bihar was mostly symbolic. He said that if liquor ban had been implemented in Bihar, the issue would have been to remove it. Liquor is being sold in every street and locality. It is being delivered to every home. It is being sold at high prices. People are consuming it and paying high prices for it.
He further said that the rising prices of illicit liquor has badly affected the households. He also said that “more than 2 lakh people, mostly extremely backward Dalits, are in jail” under the prohibition law and many cannot afford bail. According to her, the women-centric policies of the ruling coalition and the large-scale distribution of funds at the last moment played a decisive role. He said that the reason for our defeat was the work done by Nitish ji for women and the transfer of Rs 10,000 at the last moment.
How was the performance of which party?
Despite fielding candidates in almost all 243 constituencies, the newly formed Jan Suraj Party failed to win a single seat in the 2025 assembly elections. The NDA won the state by winning 202 seats – crossing the 200-seat mark for the second time after securing 206 seats in 2010. BJP emerged as the largest party with 89 seats, followed by JD(U) with 85 seats. Allies also performed well: LJP(RV) won 19 seats, Humsaf won five and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four. Meanwhile, the RJD-led grand alliance got only 35 seats. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, Congress 6, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Liberation) (CPI(ML)(L)) 2, Inclusive Party of India (IIP) one and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) one seat.