Prashant Kishor’s ‘AI video’ claim, BJP chief’s temple visits — last day in a busy Bihar campaign

Jan Suraaj Party Bankipur Assembly bypoll candidate Prashant Kishor. (Express photo by Rahul Sharma)

Nitish video sparks row

Prashant Kishor held a series of mohalla meetings on the last day of campaigning. Kishor courted controversy by alleging that a video appeal by former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, seeking votes for the BJP, was AI-generated.

“I challenge the BJP. If it proves the video is genuine, I will withdraw from the race. It is shameful that the BJP is using the name of Nitish Kumar, who is not in good health. This reflects the BJP’s desperation to retain its so-called fort of Bankipur,” Kishor said.

Claiming that the Election Commission had intervened to keep Jeevika workers out of the BJP’s campaign, Kishor urged voters to turn the bypoll into a “referendum against the BJP and Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary”. He also asserted that the BJP would no longer be able to rely on its traditional caste arithmetic.

BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Pawan Singh hold a roadshow in support of party candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha ahead of the Bankipur Assembly by-poll, as RJD supporters cross paths in Patna, Tuesday. (PTI)

‘No contest’

The BJP, however, maintained that the contest was a “no contest”, and that only the victory margin remained to be decided.

Nabin, along with Samrat Choudhary, held a roadshow in Patna on Monday. On the final day of campaigning, Nabin visited several temples, including the Kali Temple near Baansghat, the Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple on Boring Road and the Shiv Temple at Boring Road Crossing.

The party also deployed senior NDA leaders from the Chandravanshi community, including Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar, minister Pramod Chandravanshi and former JD(U) MP Chandeshwar Prasad Chandravanshi, to campaign in Mithapur, which has a sizeable Chandravanshi population. Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan also addressed public meetings in support of the BJP candidate.

Bankipur, an urban constituency carved out of the erstwhile Patna West Assembly seat after the 2008 delimitation, has long been considered a BJP stronghold. Nitin Nabin represented the seat from 2006, succeeding his father, former MLA Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha. With its sizeable middle-class electorate, trading community and distinct caste composition, the bypoll is being closely watched as an indicator of urban sentiment in Bihar.