New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a major political setback in the latest round of Assembly by-elections, managing to retain only one of the three seats that went to the polls. While the party successfully held on to Gujarat’s Manjalpur Assembly constituency, it lost the high-profile Bankipur seat in Bihar to Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor and failed to wrest Datia in Madhya Pradesh from the Congress.
Among the three results, the outcome in Bihar’s Bankipur Assembly constituency emerged as the biggest political surprise, with political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor scripting one of the most significant electoral upsets in recent state politics by ending the BJP’s nearly three-decade dominance in the constituency.
Making his electoral debut, Kishor defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by a margin of 19,246 votes. He secured 63,946 votes against Kumar’s 44,700, while the RJD’s Rekha Kumari finished a distant third with 14,721 votes. The victory marks the Jan Suraaj Party’s first electoral success and is widely being seen as a watershed moment that could significantly alter Bihar’s political landscape ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters after his victory, Kishor said the outcome represented much more than the election of a single legislator.
“This is the victory of the people of Bankipur. As we said throughout the campaign, this was not merely an election to choose an MLA. It was an opportunity for the people of Bihar to send a message to the BJP’s central leadership that the state deserves a Chief Minister with integrity and credibility. The people do not want someone with a criminal background or a questionable reputation leading Bihar. They want a leader who can improve education, generate employment opportunities for the youth and ensure that the state’s young people are not forced to migrate in search of work,” he said.
Kishor also urged the BJP leadership to focus on governance rather than electoral politics.
“Before the next Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and Amit Shah should concentrate on improving Bihar, creating employment for its youth and ending forced migration. That is our only objective. We have not entered politics to distribute contracts; our sole mission is Bihar’s development,” he said.
His remarks came as Jan Suraaj supporters celebrated the party’s maiden electoral victory across Patna.
End of a Three-Decade BJP Stronghold
The Bankipur Assembly constituency, formerly known as Patna West, has long been regarded as one of the BJP’s safest urban seats. The party had held the constituency uninterrupted since 1995.
Initially represented by veteran BJP leader Navin Kishore Prasad Sinha, the seat later passed to his son, Nitin Nabin, who retained it for five consecutive terms.
The by-election was necessitated after Nitin Nabin vacated the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha while serving as the BJP’s National President. In the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, Nabin had won Bankipur by a margin exceeding 50,000 votes, making Kishor’s victory all the more significant.
Having spent years as one of India’s most sought-after election strategists before launching Jan Suraaj as a grassroots political movement centred on governance, education and employment, Kishor’s victory provides his fledgling party with its first major electoral validation.
BJP Accepts Defeat, Announces Review
Reacting to the outcome, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said the BJP respected the people’s verdict and would undertake a detailed review of the result.
“This is the land of democracy and the BJP has always respected the people’s mandate. Unlike the opposition, we do not blame the Election Commission or EVMs after defeats. We have full faith in constitutional institutions. The party will conduct an in-depth review. This is the same Bihar where, just six months ago, we secured 202 seats,” he said.
State BJP president Sanjay Saraogi also accepted the verdict, saying the party would examine the reasons behind its defeat.
“We have consistently worked for the development of Bankipur, and that commitment will continue. The people of Bankipur are our own. We will conduct a detailed review to understand the reasons for the reduced vote share. I also congratulate the winning candidate,” he said.
Congress Retains Datia
In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress retained the Datia Assembly seat as its candidate, Ghanshyam Singh, defeated BJP nominee Ashutosh Tiwari by more than 6,000 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated after Congress MLA Rajendra Kumar Bharti’s Assembly membership was terminated following his conviction in a cheating case involving forged bank records to secure illegal interest payments. Bharti, who had won the seat in the 2023 Assembly elections by defeating the BJP by over 7,500 votes, was later granted bail after a Delhi court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. Despite the BJP’s aggressive campaign, the Congress succeeded in retaining the constituency.
Reacting to the outcome, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said the party’s victory in the Datia Assembly bypoll had exposed the “real face” of the BJP government in the state and reflected a growing public desire for political change.
“This election has exposed the real face of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh. The victory is the result of the collective efforts of our entire team in the state. The people of Madhya Pradesh have signalled that they want change. Even if Narottam Mishra had contested the election, he would have lost,” Patwari said.
Speaking to reporters BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari thanked party workers and voters for their support, saying he would accept the people’s verdict with humility. Tiwari was fielded by the BJP in place of senior leader Narottam Mishra, who represented the Datia Assembly constituency for three consecutive terms between 2008 and 2018 but lost the seat in the 2023 Assembly elections.
BJP Holds Manjalpur
The BJP’s only victory in the bypolls came from Gujarat, where it comfortably retained the Manjalpur Assembly seat in Vadodara district.
Party candidate Satendrabhai (Satish) Patel secured 55,481 votes to defeat Congress nominee Bhikhabhai Rabari by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
The by-election was necessitated following the death of senior BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Yogesh Patel. Although the Congress failed to win the seat, party leaders highlighted an increase in their vote share. Despite lower voter turnout than in the 2022 Assembly elections, the party secured nearly 5,000 more votes than it had received in the previous contest.Â
Menawhile, Alleging that the by-election was not conducted on a level playing field, Congress candidate Bhikhabhai Rabari claimed that BJP workers openly celebrated, beat drums and intimidated his supporters, which, he said, adversely affected voter turnout in his favour.
There was no immediate response from either the BJP or the Election Commission to the allegations.
Wider Political Significance
Senior political analysts told The Sunday Guardian that the implications of the bypoll results extend well beyond the three Assembly constituencies.
According to them, the Bankipur verdict is likely to dominate Bihar’s political discourse because the BJP lost a seat vacated by its own national president. Regardless of the conclusions drawn from the party’s internal review, the perception that the BJP surrendered one of its safest urban bastions is expected to become the defining narrative of these by-elections.
The outcome has also reignited discussions over the BJP’s leadership in Bihar, with some leaders privately acknowledging the need for a thorough reassessment of the party’s leadership strategy, governance record and political messaging ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
For Jan Suraaj, however, the victory represents far more than its first electoral win. It establishes Prashant Kishor’s fledgling outfit as a serious political force capable of challenging both the BJP-led NDA and the Mahagathbandhan, potentially reshaping Bihar’s political landscape in the run-up to the next Assembly elections.
