Bankipur bypoll: Jansuraj Party's Prashant Kishor leads, BJP trails

Counting of votes is underway in Bihar's Bankipur constituency, where Jan Suraaj's Prashant Kishor is leading by almost 15,000 votes.

The Bankipur Assembly constituency went to the bypolls on July 30 after sitting MLA Nitin Nabin of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vacated the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha.

The contest has drawn national attention as it marks poll strategist-turned-politician Kishor's electoral debut from a constituency that has remained a BJP stronghold for nearly three decades.

Nabin has represented the seat since 2010. Before him, his father, Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha, held the constituency.

The BJP has fielded its youth wing leader, Neeraj Kumar Sinha, from Bankipur, which falls under the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, to replace Nabin.

The bypoll recorded a voter turnout of 34.30 per cent (around 130,208 voters), down by more than seven percentage points from the 41.45 per cent recorded in the last Assembly elections.

According to the Election Commission, at the end of the 25th round of counting at 3.30 pm, Kishor was leading by 14,953 votes, while Sinha trailed. A total of 31 rounds of counting are scheduled.

Speaking to ANI, Kishor said, "When people start their electoral politics, they look for safe seats for themselves... I am doing the opposite because I am telling the people of Bihar that if Bihar is to change, they must vote beyond caste and religion."

"They must stop voting out of fear of Lalu for the BJP, or fear of the BJP for Lalu. To prove the point, I am explaining to the people of Bihar that I am contesting from a place where votes should not be sought in the name of caste or religion..." he added.

Apart from Bankipur, counting of votes is also underway in Madhya Pradesh's Datia and Gujarat's Manjalpur Assembly constituencies.