Patna: Polling for the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar began at 7 am on Thursday amid tight security arrangements. Around 3.80 lakh voters are eligible
to cast their votes to decide the fate of 26 candidates, including Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who is contesting his first election. Voting will continue till 6 pm, a senior official from the office of the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer said. The counting of votes will take place on August 3. The bypoll has drawn significant attention as Kishor, a former election strategist who launched the Jan Suraaj Party a few years ago, is taking on the BJP in one of its strongest constituencies. The bypoll was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin vacated the Bankipur seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha in April. Nabin had won the seat for a fifth consecutive term in the November Assembly elections, defeating RJD candidate Rekha Gupta by more than 50,000 votes. The BJP has fielded its youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha for the bypoll. The party has held the constituency since 1995, when it was known as Patna West. According to Election Commission data, all 422 polling booths in the constituency are located in urban areas. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor alleged on Thursday that the Bihar Police had detained several of his supporters at the behest of the ruling BJP. He claimed the BJP "fears losing the bypoll" in the Bankipur seat.
