Jan Suraaj party founder Prashant Kishor announced his candidature from Bankipur Assembly seat by-election in Patna on July 5, 2026. Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui
By Neeraj Kumar
Patna: Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor will contest his first election from Bihar’s prestigious Bankipur Assembly constituency after the core committee of his Jan Suraaj party formally named him as its candidate for the by-election. The announcement has transformed the contest into one of the state’s most closely watched political battles, with polling scheduled for July 30 and counting on August 3.
The Bankipur seat in Patna has long been considered a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stronghold and has remained with the party since the constituency came into existence. The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Nitin Nabin, prompting the by-election.
Prashant Kishor, who founded Jan Suraaj after undertaking a statewide padyatra focused on education, employment and governance, did not contest the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. His candidature from Bankipur is being seen as the formal beginning of his direct political career after years of working behind the scenes as an election strategist.
Announcing his decision, Kishor said he had accepted the party’s direction to contest from Bankipur. He described the by-election as an important political test, saying the result would reflect public opinion on the performance of the government. “If we lose and the BJP wins, it will be considered an endorsement of the work done by the Samrat Choudhary government,” he said.
Kishor said the by-election would not change the government but could change the direction of Bihar’s politics by offering voters an alternative. He added that Jan Suraaj was contesting the election independently and appealed to all four lakh voters in the constituency for their support and blessings.
Prashant Kishor previously served as an election strategist for several political parties, including the JD(U), BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, YSRCP and DMK. He joined the JD(U) in 2018 and was appointed the party’s national vice-president by then Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but was expelled in 2020 after opposing the party’s support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
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