Patna, Bihar: Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor appeared set to secure his first electoral victory after taking a commanding lead in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, while his Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) looked poised to register its first election win.
According to Election Commission trends available after 29 of the 31 counting rounds, Kishor was leading by nearly 20,000 votes over the BJP candidate. The result, if confirmed, would end the BJP’s 35-year hold over the constituency.
Bankipur has long been regarded as a BJP stronghold. The seat became vacant after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned as MLA following his election to the Rajya Sabha. Nabin had represented the constituency for two decades, succeeding his father, Navin Kishore Prasad Sinha, who held the seat for 15 years.
The bypoll was widely viewed as an important test for Kishor’s political experiment after the Jan Suraaj Party failed to win a seat in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.
Political observers said the party adopted a different campaign strategy for the bypoll, focusing on direct voter engagement rather than large public rallies. Kishor reportedly began campaigning weeks before his main rivals, holding neighbourhood meetings, padyatras and small public interactions across the constituency.
The campaign concentrated on local civic issues, including waterlogging, damaged roads, traffic congestion, education, employment and governance. Reports also suggested the party relied on a smaller but more specialised organisational structure, with volunteers assigned to booth management, women’s outreach and constituency-level coordination.
The BJP mounted an extensive campaign to retain the seat after replacing its initial candidate with youth leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha. Senior party leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Union ministers and other NDA leaders, campaigned extensively in the constituency during the final phase of the election.
During the campaign, Kishor alleged that cash was being distributed to influence voters, while he also questioned a campaign video featuring former chief minister Nitish Kumar, claiming it had been created using artificial intelligence. The BJP rejected those allegations.
Voting for the bypoll took place on July 30, with an official turnout of 34.24%.
If the current trends are reflected in the final result, the victory would mark both Kishor’s first electoral success as a candidate and the Jan Suraaj Party’s first-ever election win, potentially strengthening its position ahead of future political contests in Bihar.
