3 min readAug 4, 2026 05:52 AM IST
First published on: Aug 3, 2026 at 02:57 PM IST
Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor defeated the BJP’s Neeraj Kumar Sinha in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll on Monday, sending shockwaves across Bihar politics. Here are five factors for his remarkable performance on his debut election.
1) PK factor
The first factor is the poll strategist-turned-politician himself. In contrast with the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls, when his fledgling JSP could not open its account despite contesting 238 of the state’s 243 seats, Kishor decided to jump into the electoral arena himself this time, rather than fielding any other party leader to contest the Bankipur seat in Patna.
Kishor’s candidature weighed heavily against the BJP’s lightweight candidate, Neeraj Kumar Sinha, who was fielded by the party in the seat vacated by its national president Nitin Nabin, who had represented Bankipur for five terms from 2006 to 2026.
2) Mood for change
The second thing that has gone in favour of Kishor is the perceived public mood for change in the BJP’s bastion, with many people apparently seeing the JSP chief as a “better and well-meaning candidate”.
Kishor called this election a referendum on Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and attacked the BJP’s “arrogance” for dubbing Bankipur as its “stronghold”, highlighting that “it is people who make a fort, not any political party”.
3) Cracks in BJP, RJD bases
A major factor that fuelled Kishor’s win could be attributed to wide cracks that surfaced in the support bases of both the BJP and the principal Opposition RJD. While only the upper caste Kayastha community consolidated behind the BJP, sections of other upper caste and OBC voter groups swung to Kishor.
Chunks of the RJD’s Muslim-Yadav voters seemed to have gravitated towards Kishor too. A section of Muslims deserted the RJD for Kishor because they saw his winning potential against the BJP.
4) PK’s issue-based campaign
During his campaign, Kishor stuck to his core issues such as education and jobs and civil matters, rising above the traditional issues of caste and religion. In his campaign, Nitin Nabin played up his emotional connect with the Bankipur people, rather than proposing the BJP’s roadmap for the high-profile constituency.
5) JSP’s strategy
Kishor worked out a better poll strategy than his rivals. In his campaign, he focused more on the mohalla meetings and public interactions through large stretches. He thus succeeded in breaking the BJP’s “social combination”, also taking advantage of some dissension and bickerings within the local unit of the ruling party.
Jan Suraj Party supporters celebrate as early trends show party chief Prashant Kishor leading in the Bankipur Assembly by-election during the counting of votes, in Patna, Monday, August 3, 2026. (PTI) 
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