Patna:
Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor won the Bankipur assembly bypoll on Monday, August 3 defeating BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha by a margin of 18,963 votes. Breaking the BJPs long-standing dominance over the Patna constituency. Marking Kishors first electoral victory of his political career.
The Numbers
According to the Election Commission after the completion of all 31 rounds of counting Kishor secured 63,203 votes while BJPs Neeraj Kumar Sinha polled 44,250 votes. RJD candidate Rekha Kumari Gupta finished a third with 14,085 votes. Voter turnout stood at 34.24%, than seven percentage points lower than the 41.45% recorded during the November 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. In the 2025 Assembly election BJPs Nitin Nabin had won the seat by a margin of around 51,000 votes. An advantage that did not carry over to this bypoll.
A Reversal After a 2025 Debut
The win marks a turnaround for Kishor and Jan Suraaj, whose 2025 Bihar Assembly election debut had ended in a rout with the party failing to win a single one of the 238 seats it contested. This bypoll victory by contrast is being seen as a political comeback in his home turf of Patna.
Allegations Over Police Detentions
of the counting Jan Suraaj lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Patna Police with Kishor alleging that 54 of his party leaders and supporters were illegally detained before polling, which he claimed was carried out at the BJPs behest. Police reportedly said the detentions were part of maintaining law and order during the 48-hour -poll silence period.
Kishors Message After the Win
Speaking on the result Kishor said Bihar needed a chief minister who could improve education create jobs for the youth and stop the outmigration of the states children in search of work. He said his partys objective was Bihars development not merely winning seats to award contracts and called on the BJP and leadership to focus on employment and development in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Reactions
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated Kishor on the win saying the people of Bankipur had made their choice in the ” festival of democracy” and that their mandate deserved respect.
Note: This report is based on Election Commission data and statements from leaders available, at the time of publication.
