Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor will make his electoral debut by contesting the Bankipur Assembly polls scheduled for July 30 in Bihar, with his Jan Suraj Party on Sunday formally announcing it as its candidate for the high-profile contest in one of the BJP’s traditional strongholds.
The decision was announced by Jan Suraj state president Manoj Bharti after a meeting of the party’s core committee. Polling for the by-election is scheduled to take place on July 30, and the votes will be counted on August 3. The deadline for submitting nominations is July 13.
The Bankipur seat fell vacant after BJP president Nitin Nabin was elected to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP is yet to announce its candidate, though leaders such as Ajay Alok, Neil Ratan Ghosh and Ajit Kumar Lally are reportedly under consideration.
Janata Janshakti Dal (JJD) chief Tej Pratap Yadav has already fielded social activist Veena Manvi.
The founder is in battle after the weak appearance of Jean Suraj
This will be the first time that Kishor, who has managed election campaigns for several major political parties over the past decade, will seek an electoral mandate.
Ahead of Sunday’s announcement, Kishor said the party had “decided, in principle, to contest the by-election on the Bankipur seat”, describing it as an opportunity to test public opinion about the government.
“The by-poll to the Bankipur Assembly will be a referendum on the first year of the ruling NDA,” he said.
Showing confidence, Kishor asserted that “only the Jan Suraj Party can defeat the BJP in Bankipur,” arguing that “the Rally for Democracy and the Congress are losing the seat by a huge margin. Our party believes that we just need to field a strong candidate.”
When asked weeks before the announcement whether he himself would contest, Kishor said: “It is a decision that the party has to take.”
The contest comes months after Jan Suraj’s disappointing debut in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. The party contested 238 of the state’s 243 seats, but failed to win a single constituency, despite securing just over 3% of the statewide vote share.
Following the results, Kishor asserted that the nascent group had succeeded in building an organizational base across Bihar, and would continue to expand before the next elections.
Long journey so far
Kishor officially launched Jan Suraj after the conclusion of his state-level Jan Suraj Padyatra, during which he sought to position the party as an alternative to both the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Mahagathbandhan.
Throughout his election campaign, he promised governance reforms, improved education, healthcare, employment generation, and an end to what he described as decades of political mismanagement in Bihar.
Why is surveying the main focus?
Bankipur, located in the heart of Patna, has long been considered a BJP stronghold. Nitin Nabin represented the constituency for multiple terms before moving to the Rajya Sabha, and the party maintained a strong organizational network and urban support base in the seat.
The by-election is expected to attract national attention as it marks Kishor’s transition from election strategist to candidate.
For the BJP, retaining Bankipur would reaffirm its hold on one of its safest urban constituencies.
For Kishor, the contest will be the first electoral test of whether the political capital built through his state-level outreach campaign can translate into votes after Jan Suraj’s setback in the 2025 Assembly elections.
