Bankipur defeat: Bihar CM, BJP leaders hold review meet to analyse loss

Two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the Bankipur assembly byelection — a seat it had held for over three decades — Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary met senior party leaders at the party headquarters in Patna on Wednesday to review the unexpected defeat.

The byelection result, announced on August 3, saw Jan Suraj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor defeat BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha by a margin of over 19,000 votes. The BJP had won the Bankipur seat continuously since 1995. The byelection was necessitated after the sitting MLA, Nitin Nabin, was elected as the party's national president and subsequently became a member of the Rajya Sabha. This was the first assembly byelection since Samrat Choudhary became Chief Minister of Bihar.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, BJP leader and State Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari said, “Every party learns from its mistakes and looks for its shortcomings. We have been winning the Bankipur seat, but what were the reasons that the seat fell from our hands? We will understand everything and correct them.”

The meeting was attended by state party president Sanjay Saraogi, party organisational leader Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya, and other senior leaders. According to party sources, leaders deliberated extensively to identify the factors behind the candidate's defeat in Bankipur.

A senior party leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “It was held by our party's national president Nitin Nabin Ji, and it should not have fallen from our hands, but there must be some reasons that we lost there. We will introspect in detail and understand the reasons for our defeat.”

State BJP president Sanjay Saraogi thanked party functionaries and workers who had campaigned in the byelection, remarking that “a strong structural organisation is the BJP's biggest identity.”

A day after the result, former Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the PM's office in the Parliament House complex on August 4. JD(U) leaders described the meeting as a “courtesy call,” though BJP sources indicated that the Bankipur outcome was also discussed.

Prashant Kishor, who won the byelection, had earlier described the contest as a “referendum on the BJP government in Bihar.”

BJP sources in Bihar said the party would work to regain the trust of Bankipur voters in the coming days. “We were not expecting this result. The party this time got nearly 50% fewer votes than in the 2025 assembly poll, and since it was a byelection, a detailed review is essential,” said BJP spokesperson Kuntal Krishna.