After BJP’s original candidate Abhishek Kumar Sinha, popularly known as Bunty, withdrew his nomination papers for the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, his father has now said he did so to “protect the honor of his parents” who were named in the notorious fodder scam in Bihar.
Although Bankipur has been a stronghold of the BJP, the party is expecting a tough contest this time with Jan Suraj Party founder Prashant Kishor entering the fray.
Ravindra Prasad, whose son announced on Friday that he was withdrawing “due to family reasons” a day after filing nomination papers in the presence of leaders from all NDA partners, explained the reasons to the media.
“Until Bunty took the decision, the atmosphere in our house was one of celebration. Now it has given way to desolation,” said Ravindra Prasad, who owns a Patna-based company, which was examined in the state. $The 1,000-crore ‘chara ghotala’ scandal of the 1990s in which RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav served jail time still tarnishes the reputation of many leaders of the time.
“After the CBI got involved, my wife and I were out on bail and our appeals are still pending before the Supreme Court,” Ravindra Prasad explained.
He went on to explain that the alleged money was exaggerated. He said that some members of the media accused him and his wife of “involvement in a transgression matter.” $100 Crores.
“Anyone can check the facts. We have been charged in a related case only $11 lakh, he said.
Those convicted in the fodder scam include Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was the chief minister of undivided Bihar when the alleged irregularities in the animal husbandry department took place; The late Jagannath Mishra, who preceded Lalu Prasad as chief minister and became the leader of the opposition after the Congress lost power and the Janata Dal formed a government in Bihar.
Now it is haunting Bunty, president of the BJP’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
His father also said: “We are ordinary people. My son, despite his commitment, was a middling leader in his party. Maybe things would have been different if we were also bigwigs.”
The by-election for the Assembly seat was necessitated by the resignation of BJP president Nitin Nabin, who bagged the constituency five times in a row but gave it up after being elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Following Ponty’s decision to back down, the party fielded another youth wing leader, Neeraj Kumar Sinha.
Strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, whose party got no seats in its maiden appearance in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, claimed that Abhishek Sinha’s withdrawal showed that people are rising above caste and religion to strike back at the cheating they faced in the recent elections.
“This is the power of democracy… Once people rise up, leaving behind caste, religion, party and leader, the candidate of a party like BJP runs away from here…,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Read also | ‘BJP is afraid of Prashant Kishor’: Jan Suraj after Abhishek Kumar Sinha withdraws nomination
Kishor claimed that the BJP could see defeat looming in Bankipur. “The BJP is known to lure or intimidate candidates from its rivals. Now its candidate is running away. The BJP is worried about the possibility of defeat. They used to boast about their ability to win in Bankipur even if they field any candidate. People have decided to punish the BJP,” news agency PTI quoted Kishor as saying.
Jan Suraj, founder of Bihar Party, said: “The people of Bihar are clear in their view that someone like Samrat Chaudhary, given his behaviour, personality and public image, cannot be imposed as chief minister of Bihar. The chief minister can come from any community; that is not the issue. The real issue is to choose a capable and worthy person.”
