Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party wins Bankipur bypoll, ends BJP's 30-year dominance

Patna, August 3, 2026: In a significant electoral upset, Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Bankipur assembly seat in central Patna on Monday, ending the party's three-decade hold on the constituency. Mr. Kishor secured a comfortable margin over his nearest rival, BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha, in the bypoll.

Mr. Kishor, a former election strategist, founded the JSP on October 2, 2024. He had been undertaking a foot march across Bihar since 2022, from Valmikinagar in West Champaran district, to understand people's problems. In the November 2025 Assembly elections, the party secured only about 3.4% of the vote, and many candidates lost their deposits. Despite the setback, Mr. Kishor continued his political work in the state.

The bypoll was necessitated after Nitin Nabin, a long-time BJP legislator, was elected as the party's national president this year. Nabin had won the seat since 2006 following his father's demise; his father, Nabin Kishor Prasad Sinha, had represented Bankipur since 1995. The BJP mounted a vigorous campaign, with 40 star campaigners, including senior leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh, Radha Mohan Singh, MP and Bhojpuri artist Manoj Tiwari, and newly elected MLC Pawan Singh.

Bankipur has approximately 3.9 lakh voters, of whom about 1.3 lakh are young voters from the Gen Z generation. The results indicated a shift among this group towards Mr. Kishor. While the BJP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal focused on the caste composition — including a dominant Kayastha presence alongside OBC, Bania, Yadav, and Muslim voters — the JSP's appeal appears to have cut across traditional lines.

JSP state president Manoj Bharti said, "The result this time reflects that people have cast their franchise by going over their caste and creed affiliations for our leader Prashant Kishor's win." A local resident, Suman Dhari Sinha, told The Hindu, "For how long do we keep voting for a single party?" reflecting a widespread desire for change.

Several voters expressed reluctance to vote for the BJP again, citing concerns over development and the law and order situation in Bihar. Some mentioned a recent police encounter in Bhojpur involving a young man, Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, which the state government has ordered a judicial inquiry into. A policeman involved in the firing was arrested and sent to jail, and this remained fresh in public memory.

As the win became clear, Mr. Kishor visited the counting centre at Patna's A.N. College and addressed the media. He said the "contest in Bankipur was not personal" but called on the BJP to change its Chief Minister and stop the migration of youth from the state. Earlier, while announcing his candidature, he had said that if the BJP lost, the government should accept that the people of Bihar want change.