Patna: Jan Suraaj on Sunday announced five of its eight candidates for the upcoming Bihar legislative council elections with party founder Prashant Kishor saying the remaining three names would be announced in the next three to four days.The party named Divya Jyoti from Patna Teachers’ constituency, Afaque Ahmad from Saran Teachers’, S P Rai from Darbhanga Teachers’, Rajnish Ranjan from Kosi Graduates’ and Ravindra Yadav from Darbhanga Graduates’ constituency. Candidates for Tirhut Teachers’, Tirhut Graduates’ and Patna Graduates’ constituencies are yet to be announced.Addressing the reporters at the party office in Patliputra Colony, Kishor said teachers’ demands would be a key part of the campaign. Referring to the nearly six lakh teachers in Bihar being divided among different organisations and factions, he said Jan Suraaj would seek to bring them under one platform and form a “sangharsh samiti” to pursue their demands collectively.He said the committee would be formed three to four months before March and would work to secure three key demands before the Lok Sabha elections — implementation of the 7th pay scale, bringing teachers from unaided institutions into the regular teachers’ category and setting state-level parameters for deploying teachers on non-academic duties.Kishor said these would no longer remain merely “teachers’ demands” but become demands of Jan Suraaj. He urged voters to put themselves and their needs first, come together and vote keeping the future of their children in mind. “Jan Suraaj will fulfil these demands,” he said.Kishor also appealed to voters in graduates’ constituencies, promising to extend the party’s Bankipur election announcement of providing jobs to 10,000 educated unemployed youths to every such constituency if Jan Suraaj candidates are elected.“While voting, be selfish about your own interests,” Kishor said, appealing to voters to consider the employment needs of educated youths.Jan Suraaj national spokesperson Kumar Saurabh said multiple candidates were being considered for the remaining constituencies and the party’s core committee was conducting a SWOT analysis before taking an informed decision.The MLC elections assume significance for Jan Suraaj as it seeks to expand its political presence beyond the Bihar assembly. By contesting teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies, the party is targeting electorates linked to its campaign promises on education, employment and teachers’ service conditions.
