The by-election results declared on Monday saw Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor scripting a major political upset by wresting the Bankipur Assembly seat in Bihar from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress retaining the Datia constituency in Madhya Pradesh, and BJP managing to hold on to the Manjalpur seat in Gujarat.
Prashant Kishor Registers First Electoral Victory
The biggest headline came from Bihar’s Bankipur Assembly constituency, where Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor secured his first-ever electoral victory by defeating BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha by 19,324 votes. Kishor polled 64,151 votes against Sinha’s 44,827, while Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Rekha Gupta finished a distant third.
The victory marks a significant breakthrough for the Jan Suraaj Party, which had failed to win a single seat in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. It is also the party’s first electoral success since its formation.
Bankipur seat fell vacant after BJP National President Nitin Nabin, who had represented the constituency for five consecutive terms, was elected to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.
Thanking the electorate after his victory, Kishor said the people of Bankipur had placed their trust in him with the expectation that he would raise their issues and safeguard their interests.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated Prashant Kishor on his victory, describing the election as a celebration of democracy and affirming his respect for the people’s decision.
Congress Holds Datia in Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress successfully retained the Datia Assembly seat, with its candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeating BJP nominee Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,016 votes.
Ghanshyam Singh secured 66,757 votes, while Tiwari polled 60,741. Bahujan Samaj Party-backed Azad Samaj Party candidate Damodar Yadav finished third with 22,527 votes.
The Congress maintained its lead through most rounds of counting despite the BJP narrowing the margin in the closing stages.
The bypoll was necessitated following the disqualification of sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti after his conviction in a cooperative bank fraud case.
BJP Retains Manjalpur in Gujarat
The BJP’s only victory among the three bypolls came in Gujarat, where Satish Patel retained the Manjalpur Assembly seat in Vadodara by defeating Congress candidate Bhikha Rabari by 30,630 votes.
Patel secured 55,481 votes, while Rabari received 24,851 votes after 20 rounds of counting.
Although the BJP retained the constituency comfortably, the victory margin was substantially lower than the party’s landslide margin of more than one lakh votes in the 2022 Assembly election.
The by-election was necessitated following the death of veteran BJP leader and former Gujarat minister Yogesh Patel, who had represented the constituency and its predecessor seat for more than three decades, winning eight Assembly elections.
Satish Patel, a veteran BJP organisational leader and former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor, maintained a steady lead throughout the counting process after polling held on July 30. The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 37.50 per cent, significantly lower than the 60.15 per cent turnout in the 2022 Assembly election.
After his victory, Patel dedicated the mandate to the late Yogesh Patel, saying he would continue the developmental work initiated by his predecessor. He thanked the electorate and BJP workers for their support and said the people had once again demonstrated their faith in the party’s leadership in Manjalpur.
(With agency inputs)
