Bankipur byelection: Prashant Kishor’s electoral debut sees turnout lower than Assembly election

The voting was necessitated in the seat after BJP MLA Nitin Nabin was elected to Rajya Sabha in April, following his elevation as national president of the BJP earlier this year.

Here are the latest updates in the Bankipur bypoll:

• Bihar Minister Ram Kripal Yadav on Thursday expressed confidence on the BJP winning the bypoll even as he took swipe on the rivals, questioning: “Who is Prashant Kishor?” After casting his vote in the Bankipur Assembly by-election, Yadav took a jibe at Kishore and asked, “Who is Prashant Kishore? Who is Prashant Kishore? Is he from Bankipur? Where is his house in Bankipur? In which locality? Where is his house? Does he know the names of five streets? Has he ever visited? Will he ever visit?”
• The turnout till the end of polling was recorded at 34 per cent on Thursday, an official said.
• The voting began after a high drama on Wednesday night after Prashant Kishor accused the Bihar Police of having picked up many of his supporters, allegedly at the behest of the ruling BJP.
• Kishor, who is making his electoral debut by contesting the seat, made the allegation barely a few hours before voting was scheduled to begin at 7 AM on Thursday.
• BJP leader Chandreshwar Prasad Thakur was among the first voters to have filed their votes. “I think our party will win. Our entire family has come to cast our votes,” he told reporters after casting his vote.
• The seat saw an intense wave of campaign between the BJP, RJD and Jan Suraaj. On Tuesday, Nabin visited temples across the constituency even as he was at the forefront of the campaign for BJP’s Sinha. RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav also held a roadshow with party candidate Rekha Gupta.
• The results will announced on Monday, August 3.

Bankipur was carved out of the erstwhile Patna West Assembly seat after the 2008 delimitation. The seat is considered a BJP stronghold and remained with Nitin Nabin since 2006.

Before Nabin, his father Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha represented the seat. 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.