Bihar Bypoll: Prashant Kishor Hopes Rise As BJP Changes Candidate

Will Prashant Kishor succeed this time? The by-election for Bihar’s Bankipur Assembly seat is scheduled for July 30. The seat fell vacant after Nitin Nabin resigned as MLA following, first, his elevation as the BJP National President, and then his subsequent election to the Rajya Sabha. Ordinarily, this may have been treated as a routine vacancy in a safe seat. Jan Suraaj’s Prashant Kishor has announced that he will contest from here, marking his first entry into the electoral contests. The BJP had initially named Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) state vice-president Abhishek Kumar as its candidate. Unfortunately, just days ahead of filing of nominations, BJP had to change its candidate; Neeraj Kumar Sinha replaces Abhishek Kumar who bowed out of the race citing “family reasons”.  These developments pleased Prashant Kishor who said, “This demonstrates that no Assembly or Lok Sabha constituency is anyone’s stronghold or personal fiefdom. If the public rises, even the most prominent leaders can be made to sweat.” Regarding Bankipur, he conceded that until recently, BJP leaders boasted that their fortress was so strong that even if they fielded a dog or a cat, the public would vote for them…” Today, it appears that their own candidate has stepped away. “When the results are declared on the 3rd, a full reckoning will take place,” said Kishor. Bankipur is one of Patna’s most talked-about VIP urban areas. It is part of the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, represented by BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad. It is a seat dominated by the influential Kayastha electorate. With his entry, Kishor is seeking to make the bypoll a referendum on the NDA government in Bihar. A non-Kayastha, Kishor has opted for an intensive door-to-door campaign and neighbourhood meetings instead of large public rallies. He belongs to the Bhumihar community.