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Informist, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – In what many see as an embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party, election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor wrested the Bankipur assembly seat in Bihar, defeating the ruling party's Neeraj Kumar Sinha by over 19,000 votes. Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, polled around 64,000 votes. Sinha got only 45,000. The Rashtriya Janata Dal Rekha Kumari came a distant third with just around 14,000 votes.

 

The contest drew a lot of attention as the constituency, dominated by Kayastha voters, had been held by the BJP's current President Nitin Nabin since 2006 and was the party's stronghold since 1995. Before 2008, the Bankipur assembly seat was called Patna West. Kishor's big-bang entry into the Bihar Legislative Assembly is likely to result in many political permutations in the state.

 

In Madhya Pradesh's Datia, Ghanshyam Singh of the Indian National Congress beat his BJP rival Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,016 votes, polling a total of 66,757 votes. Sunday the Congress suspended former legislator Rajendra Bharti, whose disqualification had necessitated the bypoll. Singh had accused Bharti of trying to sabotage his campaign.

 

The BJP maintained its dominance in Gujarat with its candidate, Satendra Patel, defeating Bhikhabhai Rabari of the Congress by a margin of 30,630 votes in the Manjalpur constituency.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Shubhayan Bhattacharya

 

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