Jan Suraaj party chief Prashant Kishor was leading in Bihar's Bankipur bye-election as votes were being counted on Monday.

After the third round, Kishor was leading Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Neeraj Kumar by more than 1,100 votes, data from the Election Commission showed. Kishor is making his electoral debut.

Rekha Kumari, the candidate of Bihar's largest Opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal, was third as of 10.35 am. Twenty-eight rounds of counting were remaining.

The bye-poll was held on Friday with only 34% voter turnout. It was necessitated as the MLA, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, resigned after becoming a Rajya Sabha MP.

The constituency near Patna is considered a stronghold of the Hindutva party. Nabin had held it since 2010, after representing the Patna West seat before its boundaries were redrawn.

Jan Suraaj had made its electoral debut in the 2025 Bihar polls, fielding candidates in 238 of the state’s 243 constituencies. However, it not only failed to win any seats, but also lost its deposits in 236 constituencies where its candidates secured less than one-sixth of the votes polled.

After the results, Kishor had said that his decision not to contest the polls himself could be considered a mistake.

Kishor had launched the party in October 2024, saying that it would seek to end political helplessness in Bihar by creating an alternative for the voters.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh bye-polls

In the bye-polls in Gujarat’s Manjalpur, BJP candidate Satendrabhai Patel was leading the Congress’ Bhikhabhai Rabari by more than 11,000 votes as of 10.20 am after the sixth round. Thirteen rounds of counting were remaining.

The polls were necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Yogesh Patel in June.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari was leading the Congress’ Kuwar Ghanshyam Singh by 875 votes after the second round as of 10.40 am. Thirteen rounds of counting were remaining.

The bye-election was necessitated as Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti was disqualified after he was convicted in a bank fraud case in April. He had been sentenced to three years in prison.

In the 2023 polls, Bharti had defeated BJP leader Narottam Mishra, who was the state home minister at the time.

On Sunday, the Congress leadership suspended Bharti from the party.

Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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