After poll debacle, Prashant Kishor holds ‘maun vrat’ at Gandhi Ashram, vows to fight on

His introspection ritual coincided with Nitish Kumar taking oath for a record 10th term as Bihar Chief Minister, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top NDA leaders.

Kishor had already announced on Tuesday that he would undertake a day-long silent fast on November 20, saying it was his way of acknowledging his failure to convince voters.

“I couldn’t explain to the people of Bihar why a new system was needed. As atonement, I will observe a silent fast. We may have made mistakes, but we have committed no crime,” he told reporters.

Kishor added that he intends to work “twice as hard” and has no plans to back down from his mission to “make Bihar better.”

The NDA swept the polls, with the BJP emerging as the largest party, securing 89 seats, and the JD(U) close behind at 85. Jan Suraaj, contesting elections for the first time, drew a blank.

Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in took place at Patna’s iconic Gandhi Maidan. This venue has hosted several of his past inaugurations and also witnessed Jayaprakash Narayan’s famous 1974 call for “total revolution.”

Chief Ministers from several NDA-ruled states, including Haryana’s Nayab Singh Saini, Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland’s Neiphiu Rio, Andhra Pradesh’s N. Chandrababu Naidu, Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand’s Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the ceremony. Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and LJP (RV) chief Chirag Paswan were also present.