Never has an Assembly bypoll said so much about state and national politics. Prashant Kishor’s victory in the Bankipur Assembly bypoll opens up many possibilities in Bihar. On paper, the Jan Suraaj Party founder has defeated BJP’s Neeraj Kumar, an electoral debutant. However, in reality, he has defeated BJP national president Nitin Nabin, who won this seat—known as Patna West prior to 2010—for five consecutive terms before resigning to join the Rajya Sabha.
With an estimated 1.6 lakh of 3.79 lakh voters being upper caste Hindus, Bankipur has been a BJP fort for three decades, with Nabin’s father also winning it four consecutive terms. PK, as the former poll strategist is fondly called, has breached this fort decisively. It’s the first sign of Bihar finally warming to his alternative politics centred on development, not caste or religion. A giant-killer that PK has become after virtually defeating the BJP national president, he and his JSP can potentially emerge as the principal opposition voice at the cost of Lalu-Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the coming months and years. Tejashwi hasn’t shown the will to fight. A serious politician wouldn’t holiday abroad for three weeks in the middle of the Bankipur poll campaign, the first electoral test of the Samrat Choudhary government.
