BJP set for major upset in by-poll to Bihar state assembly

An up and rising Indian politician on Monday handed a major blow to the ruling BJP in a by-poll to the Bihar state assembly.

Prashant Kishor scripted landmark success on his personal electoral debut, achieving an unassailable lead during counting for the bypolls in Bihar’s Bankipur constituency, a BJP stronghold for over three decades.

A confirmed win would secure his party's first-ever seat in the state legislature after zero in the assembly elections last year.

The Jan Suraaj Party was launched in October lost year to champion the centrist ideals and the pan-Indian push of Mahatma Gandhi. The ideals are in sharp contrast with BJP’s ultra-Hindu nationalist and anti-Muslim approach.

The landmark win in Bankipur comes at a time when the BJP-led central government and the party itself are still coming to terms with the fallout from the recent youth protests.

Prashant Kishor has characterised the highly expected bypoll result as a referendum on Samrat Choudhary-led BJP government in Bihar state assembly.

Elsewhere in India, the Congress won Datia seat in Madhya Pradesh state assembly as BJP trailed by a margin of over 6,000 votes. Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh won over 66,000 votes defeating BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari in the bypolls.

The BJP retained the Manjalpur assembly seat in Gujarat’s Vadodara district, with its candidate Satish Patel defeating Congress nominee Bhikhabhai Rabari by more than 30,000 votes in the by-election.