Politics is full of surprises. Politics has taught me in the past four years that it is not necessary for expected things to happen. The unexpected also happen along the way. The JNU incident (of February 9, 2016) was a landmark of sorts, but did I ever imagine I would be put in the jail on the basis of an unknown FIR? I was neither an organiser nor any competent authority to give permission for the event on campus. I was not even present when it happened. When I was kept in jail, all political parties except the BJP opposed it. Even Shiv Sena, in its mouthpiece, called it wrong. But when I joined mainstream politics later, those who looked like friends started making strange remarks. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said my defeat (in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls) should be ensured even if EVMs need to be fixed. Later, there was talk of larger unity of the Opposition at the national level in order to safeguard the Constitution. I had travelled across the country, addressing multiple rallies on different platforms, pressing the need for a united front against the BJP. But it did not happen. There was no mahagathbandhan even in my own constituency (Begusarai) and I lost the election. The margin of defeat—more than 4 lakh votes—turned out to be a surprise as well. After losing the election, I decided to do the ground work in Bihar. Against all odds, I recently criss-crossed 4,000 km and held 62 rallies in 38 districts. Only a day after organising a successful rally in Patna on February 27, this sanction came. My entire political journey has been so full of surprises that I have stopped getting surprised.