Prashant Kishor Wins Prestigious Bankipur By-Election, Ends BJP's Uninterrupted Hold

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor made a winning electoral debut on Monday , defeating the BJP in the prestigious Bankipur Assembly by-election and ending the saffron party's uninterrupted hold over the constituency since 1995. Kishor secured 64,151 votes to defeat BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes. Kumar polled 44,827 votes, while the RJD's Rekha Gupta finished a distant third with 14,273 votes. The by-poll was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha. Bankipur had remained a BJP bastion for three decades, with Nabin and his late father Navin Chandra Sinha representing the constituency continuously since 1995.