Supporters celebrate as Jan Suraaj chief maintains lead in crucial Bihar bypoll
Celebrations broke out at the Jan Suraaj Party headquarters in Patna on Monday as early counting trends showed founder Prashant Kishor leading in the high-profile Bankipur Assembly by-election. Party workers gathered in large numbers, expressing confidence as Kishor maintained an advantage over his rivals in the BJP stronghold.
According to Election Commission trends, Kishor was ahead by over 8,200 votes during the counting process.
Party workers celebrate with songs and slogans
Visuals from Patna showed enthusiastic supporters dancing, applying yellow colour on one another and raising slogans of “Jai Bihar”. Party workers were also seen singing “Rinkiya Ke Papa,” a popular Bhojpuri song associated with BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, as they celebrated the early trends.
The bypoll has attracted significant political attention as it marks Prashant Kishor’s electoral debut.
Tej Pratap Yadav calls trend a political message
Reacting to the early trends, Janshakti Janta Dal chief Tej Pratap Yadav claimed the developments reflected changing political sentiments in Bihar. In a post on X, he said, “A major political message has emerged from the Bankipur Assembly constituency. The BJP faced a resounding defeat here. Even BJP national president Nitin Nabin ji could not save his own Assembly seat.”
He further added, “This result indicates that the people’s mandate is paramount, and in a democracy, the final decision rests with the people. Now the discussion is gaining momentum that this message, which started from Bankipur, could also impact the politics of the entire Bihar.”
Bankipur contest under national spotlight
The Bankipur by-election was necessitated after BJP leader Nitin Nabin vacated the Assembly seat following his appointment as the party’s state president. The contest has emerged as one of the most closely watched bypolls in Bihar, with Prashant Kishor making his first electoral appearance.
Meanwhile, vote counting is also underway in other Assembly bypolls. In Madhya Pradesh’s Datia constituency, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh is leading, while BJP’s Satendrabhai Patel has established a comfortable lead in Gujarat’s Manjalpur seat.
