In the Bankipur assembly by-election, where the entire country is watching the politics of Bihar, Jansuraj founder Prashant Kishor has taken a significant lead. After the 15th round of counting, he is ahead of BJP candidate Neeraj Sinha by 8,202 votes. This result is likely to cause a major political upheaval in the traditional stronghold of BJP.
As per the data available during the counting, BJP’s Neeraj Sinha is in second place with 21,550 votes, while Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Rekha Gupta has received 6,755 votes so far and is in third place. Jansuraj has maintained the lead since the beginning and there is an atmosphere of enthusiasm among the party workers.
Speaking to the media after getting the lead, Prashant Kishor expressed his confidence and said, “Victory is already certain.” After his statement, Jansuraj’s supporters started celebrating and Prashant Kishor and Jansuraj are also trending on social media. Notably, BJP is seen to be trailing badly even in areas dominated by the Kayastha community. Since the counting of votes in Muslim-majority areas is still underway, there is still curiosity about the final results.
The counting of votes for this by-election is underway in 31 rounds at 14 tables and tight security arrangements have been deployed for the entire process. The counting center is being continuously monitored with the help of drones. A total of 25 candidates are in the fray in this election, including Prashant Kishor, BJP’s Neeraj Sinha and RJD’s Rekha Gupta.
Meanwhile, political reactions have also started to emerge from the results. With the BJP trailing, Tej Pratap Yadav reacted on social media and called the results a victory of the people’s decision. According to him, the message from Bankipur can have a far-reaching impact on the upcoming politics of Bihar.
Bankipur assembly constituency has been a BJP stronghold for the past three decades. The BJP has won this seat consistently since 1995. First Naveen Kishore Prasad Sinha and then his son Nitin Naveen represented this constituency. However, after Nitin Naveen was elected to the Rajya Sabha, he resigned from the MLA seat and this by-election was held. Therefore, the results of this election are not limited to just one seat but are being considered an important indicator of the changing political equations of Bihar.