Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor will contest the upcoming bypoll from Patna’s Bankipur seat, the party announced on Sunday, July 5. The announcement was made by party’s state president Manoj Bharti. The bypoll was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned as the MLA of Bankipur in Patna after being elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Kishor is set to file his nomination on July 11 and said he will live up to people’s trust, adding that a victory would strengthen the party’s position in Bihar politics.
The Election Commission had announced that the notification for the bypoll would be issued on July 6, with nominations to be filed till July 13. Polling will be held on July 30, and counting of votes will take place on August 3.
The Jan Suraaj Party had said on Thursday that it will announce its candidate for the Bankipur assembly bypoll on July 5. Prashant Kishor, who floated the Jan Suraaj Party less than two years ago, has repeatedly said he is “not averse” to contesting from the BJP stronghold, describing the bypoll as “a referendum” on the Samrat Choudhary-led NDA government in Bihar.
He has also been campaigning in Patna, urging voters to give his party an opportunity, arguing that “one seat will make no difference” to either the ruling NDA, which enjoys a brute majority in the assembly, or the opposition INDIA bloc, which got decimated in last year’s assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference earlier, Jan Suraaj Party state president Manoj Bharti said: “We reiterate that the Jan Suraaj Party will contest the Bankipur bypoll. Many people want Prashant Kishor himself to be the candidate. Deliberations are underway, and the candidate will be formally announced on July 5.”
BJP leaders expressed confidence that the party would retain the seat, which it has held continuously since the 1990s. The opposition INDIA bloc is yet to announce its candidate for the bypoll. It remains unclear whether the RJD, which contested the seat in 2020, the Congress, or one of their Left allies will field a nominee against the NDA.
Meanwhile, Tej Pratap Yadav, who recently floated the Janshakti Janata Dal after being expelled from the RJD by his father Lalu Prasad, announced social activist Veena Manvi as his party’s candidate for the Bankipur bypoll.