Voting begins for Bankipur assembly bypoll in Bihar; Prashant Kishor among 26 candidates in fray

PATNA: Polling for the Bankipur assembly by-election in Bihar began at 7 am on Thursday amid tight security arrangements, officials said.

Around 3.80 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 26 candidates, including Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who is making his electoral debut.

Voting will continue till 6 pm, a senior official at the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer said.

Counting of votes is scheduled for August 3.

The entry of Kishor, a former poll strategist who launched the Jan Suraaj Party a few years ago, has turned the contest into a keenly watched battle in a constituency that has remained a BJP stronghold.

BJP national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat after he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April.

Nabin had won the assembly seat for the fifth consecutive time in November last year, defeating his nearest rival Rekha Gupta of the RJD by over 50,000 votes.

The BJP has fielded youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha.

The saffron party has not lost the seat since 1995, when the constituency was known as Patna West.

According to Election Commission data, all 422 polling booths in the constituency are located in urban areas.

Kishor on Thursday accused the Bihar Police of having picked up many of his supporters, allegedly at the behest of the ruling BJP, which he said "fears losing the bypoll" in the Bankipur seat.