Bankipur defeat a ‘warning bell’ for NDA, says JD(U) MLA Shyam Rajak

Patna: A day after Prashant Kishor's decisive victory in the Bankipur Assembly byelection, Janata Dal (United) MLA and former minister Shyam Rajak said the defeat is a warning bell for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar.

“There was sadness among the local workers and even voters as well. We need to find out what went wrong so that NDA workers can bring the voters to the polling booth. There was a lack of management with regard to the leaders who were given the responsibility to reach out to the voters. They failed to make door-to-door visits due to which we faced defeat,” Rajak, the MLA from Phulwarisharif Assembly constituency, told The Hindu.

The political strategist-turned-politician Kishor defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha by a margin of 19,324 votes. Kishor received 64,151 votes while Sinha finished with 44,827 votes. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) nominee Rekha Kumari got only 14,273 votes to be in third place.

Rajak, a senior JD(U) leader, said there is a need for all top NDA leaders to meet with local Bankipur workers. “The leaders must review and analyse point by point what went wrong and where. The leaders must come out with a solution, and based on that, they need to make a bond with the voters once again so that we can rise strongly,” he said.

He added that the NDA did not make a good strategy according to the leaders available. Rajak pointed out that there should have been proper management in terms of which leaders would visit which place, which leader has more effect among certain castes, or which leader can make an impact in certain areas. “If these issues had been dealt properly, today the situation would have been different,” he said.

Asked about voters losing faith in the BJP, Rajak asserted that it was not because of the development work being carried out by Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, but due to a communication gap and lack of coordination among leaders with locals. “I believe time is very powerful; if no measures would be taken timely, then in the days to come it would be dangerous. Bankipur was the strongest pillar of the NDA, and people from all castes voted in our favour. The defeat also raises questions whether the local workers were given respect or not,” Rajak said.

Another JD(U) MLA, Anant Singh of Mokama Assembly constituency, said people voted against the BJP because a perception has spread among the public that Nitish Kumar was sidelined by the BJP by removing him from the post of Chief Minister.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, on the other hand, claimed that the BJP’s “crushing defeat” in the Bankipur byelection was the result of the “negative politics” of Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. Speaking to reporters at his official residence in Patna, Yadav alleged that instead of focusing on development, the Chief Minister was “indulging in negative politics and harassing Opposition leaders.”

The Bankipur constituency has been considered an NDA stronghold, and the bypoll was seen as a litmus test for the alliance's standing in Bihar. The result has triggered introspection within the ruling coalition, with leaders calling for a grassroots-level review of electoral strategy and voter outreach.