Prashant Kishor Wins Bankipur Bypoll
Jan Suraaj chief defeats BJP candidate by 19,324 votes, securing his party’s first-ever Assembly victory
- Prashant Kishor won Bankipur with 64,151 votes.
- BJP’s Neeraj Kumar finished second with 44,827 votes.
- Kishor won by 19,324 votes, breaching the BJP’s decades-old stronghold.
- The victory gives Jan Suraaj Party its first Assembly seat in Bihar.
GG News Bureau
Patna, 3rd Aug: Former election strategist and Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) chief Prashant Kishor has won the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar, defeating BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes and securing his first electoral victory.
According to Election Commission data, Kishor polled 64,151 votes, while Neeraj Kumar secured 44,827. RJD candidate Rekha Kumari finished third with 14,273 votes.
The result marks a major breakthrough for Jan Suraaj, which failed to win a seat in its debut Bihar Assembly election in 2025. Kishor did not contest that election. Bankipur has now become the first Assembly constituency won by both Kishor and his party.
Speaking to reporters after his victory, Kishor promised visible improvements in the constituency within three months.
“In 3 months, you will see a visible change in Bankipur. But for that, you will have to give me 3 months,” Kishor said.
“My doors are open not only for the people of Bankipur, but for the entire Bihar… I have not done something extraordinary here, but still demolished the BJP’s stronghold of 30 years in just 30 days,” he added.
Thanking voters, Kishor said he would work towards the development of Bankipur and Bihar.
He also claimed the result had sent a political message to the BJP’s central leadership over its choice of leadership in Bihar.
Bankipur had been considered a formidable BJP stronghold and was represented for several terms by Nitin Nabin, who vacated the constituency after moving to the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP initially faced uncertainty over its candidate after Abhishek Kumar Sinha withdrew before filing his nomination, citing family reasons. The party subsequently fielded youth leader Neeraj Kumar.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated Kishor and said the people’s mandate should be respected.
The bypoll had also attracted attention amid heightened political debate over youth and student issues following recent protests in Delhi. Bankipur, which has a sizeable young population and several educational institutions, was closely watched for indications of shifting voting patterns among younger electors.
Jan Suraaj’s Bihar chief Manoj Bharti described the result as a vote for change and claimed the party received support across different sections of the constituency.
With the Bankipur victory, Kishor has made his entry into the Bihar Assembly while giving Jan Suraaj its first elected MLA.
