Polling for the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar began at 7 am on Thursday under tight security, with Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor making his electoral debut in a high-profile contest.
Around 3.80 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots across 422 urban polling booths to decide the fate of 26 candidates. Voting will continue until 6 pm, while counting of votes will take place on August 3.
The bypoll was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha in April.
Nabin had retained the constituency for a fifth consecutive term in the 2025 Assembly elections, defeating the RJD's Rekha Gupta by more than 50,000 votes.
The BJP has fielded its youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha for the seat, which the party has held continuously since 1995, when the constituency was known as Patna West.
Kishor's entry has made the by-election one of the most closely watched contests in the state, with the Jan Suraaj chief seeking to challenge the BJP's long-standing dominance in the constituency.
Ahead of polling, Kishor accused the Bihar Police of having picked up many of his supporters, allegedly at the behest of the ruling BJP, which he said "fears losing the bypoll" in the Bankipur seat.
(With inputs from PTI)