PATNA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is presently in a position to select its candidate for the high-profile Bankipur by-poll deftly, as former political strategist and Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor entered the electoral fray.
JSP on Sunday announced that Kishor would contest the by-poll. Given the fact that Kishor and his party workers have been making preparations for the by-poll for months before a formal announcement, the BJP can ill afford to take Kishor’s challenge lightly.
In this scenario, the BJP has to select its candidate with utmost care, as the electorate may not have the same level of confidence in a new candidate as they previously had in Nitin Nabin.
The by-poll gains significance as Kishor's party failed to open its account in the last assembly elections held in November last year.
On Sunday, State party president Manoj Bharti announced Kishor's candidacy for the by-poll during a press conference at the party office.
Bharti said that the core committee unanimously decided that Kishor would be the JSP's candidate for the Bankipur by-election.
On this occasion, Kishor said, “Our party would do whatever is needed to defeat the BJP in the Bankipur by-election.”
He claimed that the Bankipur by-election was going to be a public referendum on the performance, conduct, character, image, policies, and governance of the NDA government led by Samrat Choudhary over the past six months.
He said that the result of the Bankipur by-poll would have no impact on the government, but it would certainly change the direction of Bihar's politics.
He appealed to the people to ensure his party's victory in the by-poll if they wanted to change the direction of the state’s politics.
Slamming the chief minister and his government, Kishor said that Samrat had become the BJP's chief minister of Bihar for the first time. He said that his party had already made it clear that it did not trust his conduct, character, and image.
“A large section of the people of Bihar does not trust him (Samrat). He was not elected; he was made chief minister from the back door. The people elected Nitish Kumar as chief minister. In a way, the people of Bankipur, who are among the most enlightened and prosperous in Bihar, bear the responsibility of choosing the most capable candidate and delivering their verdict on the government and its policies,” he remarked.
So far, Jan Suraj has built a strong grassroots base in rural Bihar through padyatras (foot marches).
Winning over Patna's urban, educated, and traditionally BJP-supporting voters will be the biggest test of Kishor's organisational abilities.
Neither the ruling BJP nor the Opposition have not announced their candidates.
In the 2025 assembly election, RJD had fielded Rekha Kumari as its candidate from the seat. Kumari was pitted against Nitin Nabin of the BJP.
Votes for the Bankipur by-poll will be cast on July 30, while the result will be declared on August 3.