Bihar By-Election Update: Prashant Kishor Leads in Counting
Counting Progress in Bihar's Bankipur By-Election
Patna, August 3 - In the ongoing counting for the by-election in Bihar's Bankipur assembly constituency, Prashant Kishor, the candidate from the Jan Suraj Party, is currently ahead of his closest rival, Neeraj Kumar from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by a margin of 2,319 votes. According to data released by the Election Commission by 11:30 AM, five out of a total of 31 counting rounds have been completed. As per the latest trends, Kishor has secured 8,971 votes, while Kumar has received 6,652 votes.
Kishor maintains a lead of 2,319 votes. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate, Rekha Kumari, is in third place with 1,534 votes. The counting for the Bankipur assembly by-election commenced at 8 AM on Monday.
All eyes are on whether Prashant Kishor, contesting for the first time, can wrest this seat from the BJP. Bihar's Minister, Shravan Kumar, stated that whatever decision the public makes will be respected. He remarked, 'These are initial trends. The situation will become clearer after a few more rounds of counting. We hope the mandate will favor the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as we have worked for the development of people from all castes, religions, and communities.'
This by-election became necessary following the resignation of BJP's Nitin Naveen from the assembly after being elected to the Rajya Sabha in April. The BJP has fielded its youth wing leader, Neeraj Kumar Sinha, as their candidate.
The RJD has once again nominated Rekha Gupta, who previously lost to BJP's Nitin Naveen by over 50,000 votes in the 2025 assembly elections. Voter turnout for the by-election held on July 30 was recorded at 34.30%, which is more than seven percentage points lower than the 41.45% turnout in the last assembly elections.
Before the counting began, RJD's acting president, Tejashwi Yadav, offered prayers at the Baba Harihar Nath temple in Sonpur. Meanwhile, BJP workers were seen preparing laddus at various sweet shops in Patna, claiming that Neeraj Kumar Sinha's victory is assured.