# Prashant Kishor wins Bankipur bypoll, defeats BJP by 19,324 votes 2026-08-07T05:34:20+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Prashant Kishor won the Bankipur assembly bypoll on Monday, defeating the BJP's Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes after 31 rounds of counting. The Jan Suraaj Party chief secured 64,151 votes against Kumar's 44,827, ending the BJP's decades-long hold on the Patna seat. The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of BJP national president Nitin Nabin. Two independent candidates sharing names with former chief ministers, Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar, got 81 and 148 votes respectively. The RJD's Rekha Gupta finished third with 14,273 votes. Voter turnout was 34.30%, down from 41.45% in the 2025 assembly election. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress retained the Datia seat, with Ghanshyam Singh defeating the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by over 6,000 votes. The BJP held Gujarat's Manjalpur seat, where Satish Patel beat Congress rival Bhikhabhai Rabari by about 30,630 votes. The Hindu reports that the Bankipur loss reflects upper-caste disenchantment with the BJP's outreach to OBCs and other grievances. ## Coverage - livemint.com - livemint.com - livemint.com - thehindu.com Tags: Bankipur bypoll, Bihar, BJP, Jan Suraaj, Prashant Kishor Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/prashant-kishor-wins-bankipur-bypoll-ends-bjps-long-hold/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/prashant-kishor-wins-bankipur-bypoll-ends-bjps-long-hold/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.