Jan Suraj Party founder and former election strategist Prashant Kishor has been in the limelight since Sunday, after he threw his hat in the by-election for Bankipur Assembly seat in Bihar. The seat has long been a bastion of BJP president Nitin Nabin but has fallen vacant since he became a Rajya Sabha MP.
Prashant Kishor’s victory in this seat will be a big boost for the Jan Suraj Party, which received a blank result in the Bihar Assembly elections last year.
However, his rival has drawn mixed reactions, with the BJP rejecting the offer and Trinamool Congress MP Shatrughan Sinha calling him a “dhamaka”.
Why did Prashant Kishore choose Bankipur?
While Kishore announced the Bankipur contest on Sunday, speculation about his move has been there since May.
Kishor, who was earlier scheduled to contest the Bihar Assembly elections, withdrew days before the polls citing a mutual decision by his party. Although he has led many parties to victory before, this will be the first time for Prashant Kishor to enter the electoral fray.
When the former poll strategist announced his candidacy on Sunday, he described it as a “referendum” on the popularity of the BJP-led government in the state. “The people of Bankipur are the richest and most educated in Bihar. Let them vote for the best. If they feel they can restore their faith in me, I urge them to vote for me… Even as the only member of my party, I will outshine 242 other members of the Assembly,” Kishore said.
Nitin also accused Nabin of abandoning the constituency the first chance he got to enter Parliament. “Yes, I know that the BJP considers Bankipur as its stronghold. Voters here have time and again put their trust in Nitin Naben. But Nitin Nabin took no time in forgetting them. He gave up the seat at the first opportunity to enter Parliament,” he told news agency PTI.
BJP downplays Kishor’s offer, Shatrughan Sinha hits back
Nitin Nabin was elected from the five divisions of Bankipur seat, making the BJP optimistic about its chances once again, even though the BJP president is not in the fray. Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday expressed confidence in the party and said Kishor has no chance.
“Prashant Kishor has contested elections before as well. His face has already been revealed,” Begusarai MP Giriraj Singh told reporters here. Prashant Kishor was scheduled to contest from the Raghupur seat in the Bihar Assembly elections last year, but decided not to do so days before the elections.
Meanwhile, Trinamool MP Shatrughan Sinha had a different reaction to Prashant Kishor’s nomination, which he referred to as “political dhamaka”. Looking at the development through the lens of ‘Bihari Babu’, Sinha wrote on
He also said that he found Kishore’s move interesting, and said that the present time calls for unity, but did not expand on what he meant by it.
In the 2025 elections in Bihar, Kishor’s JSP contested 238 of the 243 assembly seats and failed to win a single seat. Its total share of the vote was more than 3%.
