Bye-polls: Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor leads in Bihar’s Bankipur, Congress ahead in MP

Jan Suraaj party chief Prashant Kishor was leading in Bihar's Bankipur bye-election as votes were being counted on Monday.

After the sixth round, Kishor was leading Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Neeraj Kumar by more than 3,400 votes, data from the Election Commission showed. Kishor is making his electoral debut.

Rekha Kumari, the candidate of Bihar’s largest Opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal, was third as of 11.45 am. Twenty-six rounds of counting were remaining.

The bye-poll was held on Friday with only 34% voter turnout. It was necessitated as the MLA, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, resigned after becoming a Rajya Sabha MP.

The constituency near Patna is considered a stronghold of the Hindutva party. Nabin had held it since 2010, after representing the Patna West seat before its boundaries were redrawn.

Jan Suraaj had made its electoral debut in the 2025 Bihar polls, fielding candidates in 238 of the state’s 243 constituencies. However, it not only failed to win any seats, but also lost its deposits in 236 constituencies where its candidates secured less than one-sixth of the votes polled.

After the results, Kishor had said that his decision not to contest the polls himself could be considered a mistake.

Kishor had launched the party in October 2024, saying that it would seek to end...

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