BJP’s Bankipur bastion breached

Patna: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday wrested the Bankipur assembly constituency of Bihar, a BJP bastion which the party had never lost since 1995, in a by-poll that was necessitated after its national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat.

He defeated his nearest BJP rival Neeraj Kumar by a margin of 19,324 votes. Kishor, a celebrated poll strategist, created history on his electoral debut when he garnered 64,151 votes, over Kumar, a low-key BJP youth wing leader, who was hurriedly fielded by the party after its candidate Abhishek “Bunty” pulled out at the eleventh hour, citing “family reasons.

The Congress retained the Datia assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh, with the party candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeating his nearest rival Ashutosh Tiwari of the BJP by 6,016 votes in the byelection marked by differences in the saffron camp over the choice of candidate. At the end of all 15 rounds of counting, Singh secured 66,757 votes, while Tiwari polled 60,741 votes.

The BJP in Gujarat retained the Manjalpur assembly seat in Vadodara district, with the party candidate Satish Govindbhai Patel winning the bypoll, defeating his Congress challenger and former minister Bhikhabhai Rabari by 30,630 votes. Patel secured 55,481 votes, while Rabari polled 24,851 votes. Kishor ruled out the possibility of joining any political alliance, while claiming that his victory in the Bankipur assembly bypoll was made possible “with the backing of” disgruntled supporters of parties such as the BJP, Congress and the RJD.

“The victory is a wake-up call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who must install a new chief minister in place of Samrat Choudhary, a man with criminal antecedents”. Choudhary, who had joined the BJP less than a decade ago, was understood to have been picked up by the top leadership in line with the party’s attempts to win over non-Yadav OBCs in a state where the Mandal churn of the 1990s continues to cast a shadow on the political landscape. Choudhary succeeded Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president who hung up his boots after a 20-year tenure as the Chief Minister. “We shall have no alliance. Our alliance shall be with the people of Bihar. You should see that the people of Bankipur have voted for us giving up on established parties,” said Kishor when he was asked about the possibility of a rethink on his earlier stance of going it alone in elections. With his victory, the Jan Suraaj Party will have its maiden presence in the Bihar assembly. “Besides thanking the common citizens, I would like to thank those who helped Jan Suraaj despite not being in the party. Such people were in all parties BJP, RJD, as well as the Congress,” he said.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on his victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll on Monday.