Bankipur bypoll: 11.50% turnout till 11 am; key candidates, issues, result — all you need to know 

Polling is underway in Bihar's high-profile Bankipur assembly by-election, where Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor is making his electoral debut. He is up against BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha. The contest in Bankipur, a long-standing BJP bastion, has turned into one of the state's most closely watched political battles. 

Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. An approximate turnout of 11.50% was recorded till 11 am. Counting of votes is scheduled for August 3.

Around 3.80 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of 26 candidates, including Prashant Kishor. 

The by-election has drawn attention primarily because of Kishor's entry into electoral politics in a constituency that has remained a BJP stronghold for nearly three decades.

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BANKIPUR: WHY IS THE BYPOLL BEING HELD?

The Bankipur seat fell vacant after BJP national president Nitin Nabin was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April.

Nabin had retained the assembly constituency for a fifth consecutive term in November last year, defeating RJD candidate Rekha Gupta by more than 50,000 votes.

BANKIPUR: WHO ARE THE KEY CANDIDATES?

The BJP has fielded its youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha, while the RJD has once again nominated Rekha Gupta, who lost to Nabin in the last assembly election.

The spotlight, however, is on Prashant Kishor, the former poll strategist-turned-politician whose Jan Suraaj Party has entered the contest in what is his first electoral battle.

On Thursday, Kishor accused the Bihar Police of detaining many of his supporters, allegedly at the behest of the ruling BJP, which he said "fears losing the bypoll" in the Bankipur seat.

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WHY IS BANKIPUR SIGNIFICANT?

Bankipur has not elected a non-BJP MLA since 1995, when the constituency was known as Patna West.

Situated in the heart of Patna, it stands out in Bihar as an overwhelmingly urban constituency in a state where the majority of the population lives in rural areas.

According to the Election Commission, all 422 polling booths in the constituency are located in urban areas.

WHAT ARE THE KEY POLL ISSUES?

The recent student protests over the NEET paper leak have emerged as a campaign issue in the constituency, which also witnessed some of the most intense demonstrations.

During campaigning, both Kishor and RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav blamed action against protesters on Samrat Choudhary, who earlier this year became the first BJP leader to head a government in Bihar.

Following a Bihar bandh called by Left-wing student unions on July 25, police detained nearly 700 protesters, about half of whom were later released after being found to be minors. 

The state home department subsequently announced that all cases would be withdrawn and those arrested would be released from jail.

In last year's assembly election, Bihar recorded an overall voter turnout of more than 65%, but Bankipur registered only 41.35% polling.