"I congratulate winning candidate in advance": Bihar BJP chief as Prashant Kishor extends lead in Bankipur bypoll

Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi on Monday congratulated Jan Suraaj Party candidate Prashant Kishor as he moved closer to victory in the prestigious Bankipur Assembly by-election in the state.

Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi on Monday congratulated Jan Suraaj Party candidate Prashant Kishor as he moved closer to victory in the prestigious Bankipur Assembly by-election in the state. The BJP leader also said the party would review the reasons behind party's performance in the seat.

"We have consistently worked for the development of Bankipur, and it will remain our priority in the future. The people of Bankipur are our own. We will conduct a detailed review to understand why we received fewer votes. I also congratulate the winning candidate in advance," Saraogi said. Jan Suraaj Party candidate Prashant Kishor is leading by 18,964 votes over BJP's Neeraj Kumar in the Bankipur Assembly by-election after 29 of 31 rounds of counting.

The bypoll was necessitated after BJP chief Nitin Nabin vacated his seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha. In the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, Nabin won Bankipur by a massive margin of over 50,000 votes. With Kishor on the verge of a monumental political upset, his supporters are in a celebratory mood.

Hundreds of Jan Suraaj workers gathered outside counting centres and party offices in Patna, dancing to 'dhol' beats, smearing green gulal, and raising slogans hailing a "new dawn of alternative politics in Bihar." The Bankipur Assembly seat (formerly Patna West) has been a stronghold for the BJP. It was earlier represented by BJP leader Navin Kishore Prasad Sinha. Later his son Nitin Nabin represented it for five consecutive terms.

After years of work as a leading political strategist, Prashant Kishor launched Jan Suraaj party to create an alternative political movement built around grassroots issues, education, and employment. The party failed to win any seat in its debut assembly election last year.

This the first by-poll since BJP leader Samrat Choudhary assumed office as Chief Minister, taking the leadership mantle of the coalition government from senior JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, who is now a member of Rajya Sabha. (ANI)