Making poll debut, Prashant Kishor's appeal to Bankipur's ‘richest, educated’ people

Prashant Kishor hailed the people of Bankipur as Bihar's “richest” and “most educated” and urged them to vote for him.

Prashant Kishor is all set to make his electoral debut by contesting the byelection in Bihar's Bankipur assembly seat. He announced the decision on Sunday, July 5 and said that the upcoming bypoll is going to be a “referendum on the working of the two-month-old government of Samrat Choudhary”.

Patna: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor being welcomed by supporters after he announced his decision to contest in the by-election to the Bankipur assembly seat, in Patna, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (PTI)

"If the BJP wins, I will have no hesitation in conceding that they continue to enjoy public support. If we win, it shall be for them to read the writing on the wall," Kishor said, who will be fighting on his Jan Suraaj party's ticket.

This big announcement by the political strategist-turned-politician came after his fairly new party failed to open its account in Bihar in last year's assembly polls. If Kishor wins, he would be the lone Jan Suraaj MLA in Bihar's assembly.

‘People of Bankipur richest, most educated’

"The people of Bankipur are the richest and the most educated in Bihar. Let them vote for the best. If they feel they can repose their trust in me, I urge them to vote for me... Even as the lone MLA of my party, I shall outweigh the remaining 242 ones in the assembly," he said.

Bankipur assembly seat is seeing a bypoll after Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Nabin resigned as MLA and is now a Rajya Sabha MP.

Janata Janshakti Dal (JJD) chief Tej Pratap Yadav has also fielded social activist Veena Manvi from the seat.

However, the BJP has not yet announced a name.

Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress in the Opposition have also not announced a candidate yet.

During the announcement of his name, Kishor maintained that according to him, BJP's Samrat Choudhary became Bihar's chief minister “without people's mandate” after the National Democratic Alliance, including the BJP, Nitish Kumar-led Janta Dal (United) and other parties, won by a landslide in November last year.

While Nitish Kumar was appointed the chief minister of Bihar after the poll win, he later resigned and moved to Rajya Sabha and BJP's Samrat Choudhary took over the top job.

Voting in Bankipur will be held on July 30 and the results will be announced on August 3. The filing of nomination will start on Monday, July 6, till July 13.

(With inputs from PTI)