Bankipur bypoll sees 34% turnout as Prashant Kishor makes electoral debut

Bankipur voted in a low-turnout bypoll as Prashant Kishor made his electoral debut against the BJP. Allegations over detentions and fake voters sharpened a contest whose result will be declared on August 3.Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has made his electoral debut in Bankipur bypoll. (Photo: PTI)More than 34 per cent of voters cast their ballots on Thursday in the bypoll to Bihar’s Bankipur assembly seat, where Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor made his electoral debut against the BJP, which is seeking to retain a constituency it has held since 1995. The fate of 26 candidates, including BJP nominee Neeraj Kumar Sinha and RJD candidate Rekha Gupta, will be decided on August 3.According to the Election Commission, voter turnout stood at 34.24 per cent, down by more than seven percentage points from 41.45 per cent recorded in the assembly polls in November last year. The low turnout came despite a politically charged polling day marked by allegations and counter-allegations between Kishor and the BJP.Kishor alleged that the police had detained his supporters at the behest of the ruling party, while the BJP accused him of bringing in “fake voters”. The Jan Suraaj chief, who went to a police station in Patna late on Wednesday and stayed there till early Thursday, accused the police of acting as an “extension of a political party” and “trying to help the BJP” by detaining his party workers and “obstructing its voters”.He said, “More than 16 Jan Suraaj workers were detained by the police between Wednesday evening and night. They were kept at different police stations without specifying any reason, and then shifted to Danapur police station before being taken to the Shahpur PS.” Mritunjay Tiwari, who recently joined the BJP after resigning from the RJD, alleged that Jan Suraaj workers were trying to bring fake voters to Bankipur. “The BJP has requested EC officials to verify and inspect voter identities, so that people can exercise their democratic right to vote freely, fairly, and transparently,” he said. Tiwari also claimed that Jan Suraaj’s strategy of using “fake voters” would not work and that Kishor’s “security deposits will be forfeited”.Outside a polling booth near Gol Ghar, Kishor and his party colleagues had a heated exchange with City SP (Central) Mamta Kalyani. Kishor alleged that his polling agents were being detained by the police. Kalyani rejected the charge, saying, “Everyone has the right to vote. No one is being obstructed. We are making a continuous appeal that everyone should come and vote, but not form groups because that violates election protocols.” Union Minister Lalan Singh also dismissed Kishor’s allegations and said, “In a democracy, everyone is free to act upon their will, and there is a rule of law in Bihar. Why would anyone unnecessarily detain the workers of any party? Prashant Kishor must speak based on facts.” BJP and Jan Suraaj workers were also involved in a mild altercation in the Shrikrishnapuri area, but police brought the situation under control.Several senior leaders voted during the day, including BJP MP Ravishankar Prasad, senior party leader C P Thakur, Nawada MP Vivek Thakur, ministers Ramkripal Yadav and Ashok Choudhary, Nitish Kumar’s elder sister Usha Devi, and BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha. Sinha said, “I am not accustomed to talking about frivolous things. I will just focus on the development of Bankipur. A lot of development work has already taken place under the NDA rule here.”In a post on X, Nitin Nabin, who vacated the seat in April after being elected to the Rajya Sabha, urged voters to come out in large numbers and “strengthen the resolve for a developed India”. Ravishankar Prasad, who voted at Patna Women’s College with his wife and son, said he was confident of a decisive BJP win. “I have been voting in this constituency for the last 20 years. People here share a long-standing association with the BJP due to the development works carried out by the NDA governments led by Nitish Kumar and Samrat Choudhary,” he said.Describing the contest as “one-sided”, Ramkripal Yadav said the BJP candidate was headed for victory and claimed that Kishor would finish as a “distant third in the election because people will not vote for an outsider billionaire”.In a statement, the Patna SSP office said several individuals were taken into preventive custody because, as non-resident campaigners in Bankipur, they had not left the constituency during the 48-hour silence period, as required under Election Commission directions. Police did not disclose their identities or say whether they were Jan Suraaj campaigners. Kishor, however, said around 10 of the detained Jan Suraaj workers were from Patna district and not outsiders. He also met the family of one of his supporters near Mandiri Nala in Bankipur, who was allegedly “taken away by police around 2 am on Thursday”.The Patna district administration said eight super zonal magistrates, 16 zonal magistrates and 42 sector magistrates were deployed for free, fair and peaceful voting. It said additional forces were posted in sensitive areas, and officials were told to verify suspicious voter identity cards by scanning QR codes through the Election Commission app and to register FIRs in cases involving fake IDs.Although Kishor has emerged as the main challenger to the BJP in Bankipur, 26 candidates are in the fray. RJD nominee Rekha Gupta, who lost to Nabin by more than 50,000 votes last year, said she was confident of victory with the “support of people” who are “determined for change”. She also alleged that polling booth agents wearing BJP identity cards were trying to influence voters and dismissed Kishor as a social media phenomenon.The bypoll saw muted turnout but sharp exchanges through the day as the contest headed for counting on August 3.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 30, 2026 23:57 IST