BJP vows introspection after Kishor's victory ends 30-year hold on Bankipur

NEW DELHI: BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Monday said the party would undertake a thorough review of its performance in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, where Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor defeated the BJP candidate to end the party's three-decade dominance in the constituency.

According to the Election Commission, Kishor won the bypoll by 19,324 votes, securing 64,151 votes against BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar's 44,827 votes. The result marked Kishor's first electoral victory since launching the Jan Suraaj Party, less than a year after the party failed to win any seat in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.

Reacting to the results, Nabin accepted the mandate and said the BJP would analyse the reasons behind its defeat in Bankipur and another assembly seat. In a post on X, he said: "We accept the mandate received in today's three assembly by-elections. We express our heartfelt gratitude to the people of Manjalpur assembly constituency in Gujarat for expressing their faith in the Bharatiya Janata Party. We extend our warm congratulations to all the dedicated workers and office-bearers of the BJP for this victory. In Bankipur and Datia, we did not receive the expected mandate. We will conduct a thorough introspection of the election results in both these areas with complete seriousness, and with renewed energy and determination, we will continue to go among the people and work tirelessly to further strengthen their trust."

Bankipur has been one of the BJP's strongest urban strongholds since 1995. The seat was first represented by BJP leader Navin Kishore Prasad Sinha and later by his son, Nitin Nabin, who held it for five consecutive terms before vacating it after his election to the Rajya Sabha, triggering the bypoll. In the 2025 Bihar Assembly election, Nabin had retained the seat by a margin of more than 50,000 votes, making Kishor's victory one of the most significant political upsets in the state ahead of the next Assembly elections.

The bypoll also marked Prashant Kishor's electoral debut. After years as a political strategist, he launched the Jan Suraaj Party with a campaign centred on education, employment and governance reforms. His victory gives the fledgling party its first electoral success.

Earlier in the day, Kishor said the result carried a message beyond Bankipur. "It was an attempt by the people of Bihar to send a message to the BJP's central leadership that they should appoint a good person as the Chief Minister of Bihar," he told reporters.

Following the result, the Jan Suraaj Party posted on X: "In democracy, the fortress belongs only to the people. Thank you, Bankipur—this is your victory."

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary also congratulated Kishor on his victory. "In the grand festival of democracy, the people have chosen Jan Suraaj in the Bankipur Assembly by-election. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Shri Prashant Kishor ji on his victory, while respecting the people's decision," he said in a post on X.

According to the Election Commission, the Bankipur bypoll recorded a voter turnout of 34.24 per cent.