Prashant Kishor eyes historic victory in BJP stronghold Bankipur, extends lead to comfortable margin

Making his electoral debut, Kishor has surged ahead of BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by a comfortable margin, raising the prospect of a major upset in one of the saffron party's strongest seats.

The by-election was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned from the Assembly following his election to the Rajya Sabha.

While Kishor remains firmly in the lead, BJP's Neeraj Kumar is in second place and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Rekha Kumari trails in a distant third, according to the latest counting trends.

A battle for a BJP fortress

Bankipur has remained a BJP stronghold since 1995, making the bypoll one of the most closely watched political contests in Bihar.

Kishor's decision to contest from the constituency transformed what would otherwise have been a routine by-election into a high-stakes political battle, with observers closely tracking whether the Jan Suraaj chief could break the BJP's decades-long dominance.

War of words during the campaign

The campaign witnessed sharp exchanges between the two sides.

A BJP leader had claimed that Bankipur was such a stronghold for the party that even "a dog or a cat" could win the seat on its ticket.

Kishor had asserted that the BJP would lose the bypoll by such a huge margin that its leaders would never make such claims again.

With counting still underway, Kishor's widening lead has put him on the brink of a landmark victory in his first electoral contest.

Other bypolls

In the two other Assembly bypolls held on July 30, the Congress is set to retain the Datia Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a closely watched contest.

Meanwhile, the BJP held on to Manjalpur in Gujarat, with its candidate registering a comfortable victory.

The three bypolls were seen as an important political test for the major parties ahead of the next round of electoral contests in their respective states.