Bihar’s Bankipur assembly constituency has emerged as a key battleground to see whether the people there stand with the Bharatiya Janata Party or are ready for a change. Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has taken his first political gamble by choosing to fight from Bankipur, which has been a BJP bastion for long, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal has also thrown in its hat in hopes that the tide in Bihar may have turned after last year’s assembly elections.
Matter of prestige
The byelection in Bankipur, which would otherwise not attract much attention, was necessitated after BJP’s Nitin Nabin vacated the seat for joining the Rajya Sabha. He represented Bankipur in Bihar assembly undefeated for around two decades before moving to the Parliament. The seat has been a BJP stronghold for over three decades. Before Nitin, his father Nabin Kishore Prashad Sinha represented the seat for three terms. This makes winning Bankipur a matter of prestige for the BJP.
Electoral debut for Prashant Kishor
The man behind some of the biggest political wins across India, Prashant Kishor, is set to realise whether his strategic skills will turn votes for him in this key battle or not. The Bankipur bypoll marks the electoral debut of the political strategist-turned-politician, who decided to enter the fray after his party suffered a crushing defeat in last year’s Bihar assembly polls, when Jan Suraaj Party failed to win even a single seat.
This bypoll will serve as a litmus test for Kishor to see if the people of Bihar are ready to give him and his political outfit a chance this time or not.
Key test for RJD
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which suffered major losses during Bihar’s last assembly polls, is also among the key players in the bypoll, waiting to see if it can make a place for itself at the BJP stronghold.
Who are the candidates
The battle for Bankipur was rocky right from the beginning, particularly for the BJP whose original candidate, Abhishek Kumar Sinha alias Bunty, withdrew his nomination. His father later said that the decision was taken “to protect the honour of his parents” who had been named in the infamous fodder scam of Bihar.
BJP then fielded Neeraj Kumar Sinha from the seat, who is carrying weight of the party’s expectation and reputation with this key bypoll.
Jan Suraaj Party’s founder decided to himself enter the fray and test the political water, making the contest interesting which would otherwise be expected to be an easy win for the BJP.
The RJD fielded Rekha Kumari from Bankipur.
Why Bankipur bypoll is important
The NDA alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), swept the assembly polls in November last year. However, much has changed since then. Kumar, who was the chief ministerial face when the elections were held, no longer holds that position and sits in the Rajya Sabha now. He was replaced by BJP’s Samrat Choudhary.
It has not yet been tested whether Bihar made peace with that decision and the Bankipur bypoll may just be able to provide an idea.
