Bihar Bypoll Surprise: Prashant Kishor Takes Early Lead In BJP Stronghold Bankipur

Prashant Kishor seems to be heading for a major upset in the Bihar's Bankipur assembly by-election. Making his electoral debut, the political strategist is leading by 5,272 votes after the ninth round of counting. Bankipur is widely known as a BJP fortress.

It looks like a big surprise is brewing in the Bankipur assembly by-election in Bihar. Prashant Kishor, the well-known political strategist who is fighting his first-ever election, is currently in the lead. After nine rounds of vote counting, he is ahead by a solid margin of 5,272 votes. This is significant because Bankipur is a seat left vacant by BJP President Nitin Nabin and is considered a BJP stronghold. The party's candidates have been winning here since 1995.

At the end of the ninth round, Prashant Kishor, representing his Jan Suraaj Party, has secured 17,856 votes. In comparison, BJP's Neeraj Kumar has received 12,584 votes. The RJD candidate, Rekha Gupta, is trailing in third place.

Nitin Nabin had won this seat five times in a row

The by-election, which took place on July 30, saw a total voter turnout of 34.30%. This is a drop of over 7% from the 41.45% turnout in the last assembly election. A total of 26 candidates are in the fray. All eyes are on the final result, which will decide if the BJP can hold on to its long-standing fortress or if it will face a major setback.

In the last Bihar assembly elections, BJP's Nitin Nabin had won the Bankipur seat for the fifth consecutive time. He defeated RJD's Rekha Gupta by a massive margin of over 50,000 votes.

This could bring a shift in Bihar's politics

The BJP had a strong showing in the last state elections, which led to Nitish Kumar becoming the Chief Minister. However, after Nitish Kumar's resignation, Samrat Choudhary took over as the CM. In this by-election, the RJD has once again fielded Rekha Gupta. But the person grabbing all the headlines is Prashant Kishor. This election marks his direct entry into politics, which has created a huge buzz in political circles about the Bankipur contest.