PATNA/BHOPAL/AHMEDABAD: Shattering BJP’s more than three-decade winning streak in the Bankipur assembly by-election in Bihar, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor on Monday emerged victor, defeating his BJP opponent by a margin of 19,324 votes. In two other assembly bypolls, the Congress retained Datia in Madhya Pradesh while BJP retained Manjalpur seat in Gujarat.
While Kishor polled 64,151 votes, his closest rival Neeraj Kumar Sinha of BJP secured 44,827 votes. RJD’s Rekha Gupta stood third with 14,273 votes. Kishor was ahead of the BJP candidate throughout the counting process.
The defeat is a significant blow to BJP national president Nitin Nabin, who had held the Bankipur seat for five consecutive terms, and to Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who faced his first electoral test after taking the baton from JD(U) boss Nitish Kumar. Kishor had cast the bypoll as a referendum on Choudhary’s leadership, accusing the BJP of “arrogance” in treating Bankipur as an unassailable bastion.
A political analyst said that there was a feeling among a large section of the electorate that BJP should taste defeat this time.
He claimed that the Gen Z demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and later in Patna over leak of NEET question paper had affected the Bankipur election even as the controversial Bhojpur police encounter, that claimed the life of Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, not only rattled upper castes and supporters of BJP but also other social groups, who do not generally vote for the party.
Campaigning on jobs, education and governance rather than caste or religion, Kishor forged a connect that delivered Jan Suraaj its first-ever electoral win.
Kishor also dented both BJP and RJD’s traditional vote banks. While upper-caste Kayasthas largely stuck with BJP, other upper-caste and OBC voters appeared to have drifted toward Kishor, as did sections of RJD’s Muslim-Yadav base, with some Muslim voters backing him as the candidate best placed to defeat the BJP.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress retained the prestigious Datia seat, winning the by-election by 6,016 votes. Congress candidate Kunwar Ghanshyam Singh defeated first-time BJP contestant Ashutosh Tiwari by polling 66,757 votes against Tiwari’s 60,741.
BJP’s saving grace was Gujarat, where it retained the Manjalpur assembly seat in Vadodara. Its candidate Satish Govindbhai Patel won the bypoll, defeating Congress’ former minister Bhikhabhai Rabari by 30,630 votes.
No alliance with any party: jan Suraaj
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday ruled out the possibility of joining any political alliance. “We shall have no alliance. Our alliance shall be with the people of Bihar. People of Bankipur have voted for us, giving up on established parties,” said Kishor when asked about a rethink on his earlier stance of going it alone in elections
