Prashant Kishor is off to a strong start in his electoral debut, leading the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar after the fourth round of counting on Monday. The Jan Suraaj Party chief is ahead by more than 1,100 votes, but BJP's Neeraj Kumar is still in the race with a narrow gap.
After the ninth round of counting, Kishor is leading with 5,272 votes, while BJP's Neeraj Kumar is just over 1,100 votes behind, according to Election Commission data. RJD candidate Rekha Kumari is in third place.
The Bankipur bypoll is being closely watched as it marks Kishor's first electoral contest. The constituency has long been considered a BJP stronghold and was vacated after former MLA and BJP leader Nitin Nabin was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP's campaign also saw a last-minute change after its original candidate, Abhishek Kumar Sinha, withdrew a day after filing his nomination, citing "family reasons". The party subsequently fielded its youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar.
For Kishor, the contest carries added significance after his Jan Suraaj Party failed to win any seats in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections despite contesting 238 of the state's 243 constituencies.
The counting of votes for the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar began at 8 am in Patna on Monday. With a total of 26 candidates in the fray this time, the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, held on July 30, recorded a voter turnout of 34.30%, down by more than 7% from the 41.45% registered in the last Assembly elections, according to data shared by the Election Commission of India.
Besides Bankipur, counting is also underway for by-elections in Datia in Madhya Pradesh and Manjalpur in Gujarat. The bypolls are the first electoral test since the nationwide student protests over alleged paper leaks and are being closely watched for indications of the public mood, particularly among young voters.
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