Monday blues for BJP? Prashant Kishor, Congress set to spring twin bypoll shocks
Three Assembly by-elections are throwing up three different stories as counting progresses. Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor has surged ahead in Bihar's Bankipur in his
Three Assembly by-elections are throwing up three different stories as counting progresses. Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor has surged ahead in Bihar's Bankipur in his electoral debut, the Congress is leading comfortably in Madhya Pradesh's Datia, and the BJP is set to retain Gujarat's Manjalpur. The Bankipur contest is being watched closely because a win for Kishor would give Jan Suraaj its first victory, months after the party failed to win any of the 238 seats it contested in the November 2025 Assembly election.
In Manjalpur, the BJP has kept up its advantage over the Congress, while Datia has so far shown little sign of changing hands. Read Full Story In Bankipur, Kishor was ahead by 8,966 votes after 16 rounds of counting, putting him in a strong position on his electoral debut. His party, Jan Suraaj, had suffered a heavy setback in the 2025 Assembly polls, in which it drew a blank despite fielding candidates in 238 constituencies. If he goes on to win, it would mark the party's first success and break the BJP's long run in the seat, which it has held since 1995.
The bypolls were necessitated by the resignation of BJP national president Nitin Nabin from the seat after he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April. In Datia, trends indicated that the Congress was on course to retain the seat, with Ghanshyam Singh extending his lead to over 6,500 votes after the eighth round of counting, with nine rounds still to go. In Manjalpur, with just one round of counting remaining, BJP candidate Satish Patel was comfortably ahead of Congress rival Bhikhabhai Rabari.
Patel had secured 55,244 votes against Rabari's 24,677, opening up a lead of more than 30,000 votes. As counting continues, Bankipur has emerged as the most closely watched of the three by-elections because of Prashant Kishor's debut and the possibility of Jan Suraaj opening its account. Datia looks set to stay with the Congress, while Manjalpur remains in the BJP's column. Ends
The BriefWire