Prashant Kishor will contest the Bankipur by-election, polling on July 30

The upcoming Bankipur assembly by-election in Patna has turned into a high-profile political contest following the announcement that Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishor will officially contest the seat. Jan Suraj working president Manoj Bharti made the announcement during a press conference in Patna on Sunday, following extensive internal deliberations held by Kishor the previous evening. The assembly seat fell vacant recently after veteran BJP leader Nitin Nabin resigned from his legislative membership upon being elected as the BJP National President and transitioning to the Rajya Sabha. Voting for the crucial by-poll is scheduled for July 30, with results to be declared on August 3.

This move follows hints dropped by Prashant Kishor in June, where he expressed a willingness to enter the electoral fray directly if it meant dismantling one of the BJP's most formidable fortresses. Kishor noted that the Bankipur constituency has remained an unbroken bastion for the BJP for nearly 40 to 45 years. He further characterized this by-election as the first major electoral test for Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary's leadership and the performance of the newly formed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar. The BJP, which considers this seat a matter of high prestige, is yet to announce its official candidate.

During the previous 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, Nitin Nabin secured a decisive victory in Bankipur with 98,299 votes, comfortably defeating RJD’s Rekha Kumari, who finished second with 46,363 votes. In contrast, Jan Suraj’s candidate at the time, Vandana Kumari, managed to secure only 7,717 votes, while NOTA received 1,464 votes. Nabin's historical dominance in the region spans over two decades, having won the seat continuously across five consecutive state elections since 2006. Kishor’s direct entry into the race significantly alters the traditional voting dynamics of the urban constituency.