Bad news for BJP: Prashant Kishor widens lead in Bankipur bypoll

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor surged ahead in the Bankipur Assembly by-election on Monday.

After 10 rounds of counting, he secured a 6,011-vote lead over BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha. If this trend holds, Kishor could end the saffron party's three-decade dominance in one of Bihar's most closely watched urban constituencies.

With 31 rounds of counting scheduled, Kishor had secured 20,059 votes against BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha's 14,048. RJD's Rekha Gupta trailed in third place with 3,983 votes.

Counting of votes is still underway.

If the lead sustains, Kishor would wrest Bankipur from the BJP, which has held the seat continuously since 1995, when the constituency was known as Patna West. The bypoll was triggered after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha in April.

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BANKIPUR: HIGH-STAKES CONTEST

Situated in the heart of Patna, Bankipur is one of Bihar's few predominantly urban constituencies and has long been regarded as a BJP stronghold.

Nabin had retained the seat for a fifth consecutive term in the 2025 Assembly election, defeating RJD's Rekha Gupta by more than 50,000 votes.

While the BJP fielded youth wing leader Sinha this time, Jan Suraaj pinned its hopes on Kishor, who is contesting one of the most significant elections since entering active politics.

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PARTIES WAIT FOR FINAL VERDICT

Calling the trends preliminary, Bihar minister Shrawon Kumar said the NDA remained confident of victory.

"These are early trends. The picture will become clear after a few more rounds of counting. We are hopeful that the mandate will be in the NDA's favour because we have worked for the development of people irrespective of caste, religion or creed."

Ahead of counting, RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav offered prayers at Baba Harihar Nath temple in Sonepur, while BJP workers ordered laddoos at sweet shops across Patna, expressing confidence that Sinha would retain the seat.

Voting for the July 30 by-election recorded a turnout of 34.30%, down from 41.45% in the 2025 Assembly election.