Bihar BJP unit president Sanjay Saraogi, left, greets Niraj Kumar Sinha after BJP’s Central Election Committee nominated him as a candidate from the Bankipur seat.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In an embarrassing situation for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Abhishek Kumar alias Bunty withdrew his candidature from the Bankipur Assembly bypoll on Friday (July 10, 2026), a day after filing his nomination papers. The BJP candidate submitted the withdrawal letter to Bihar unit president Sanjay Saraogi.
Soon after the withdrawal, BJP’s Central Election Committee announced the name of Neeraj Kumar Sinha as the candidate for the Bankipur bypoll. A resident of Nalanda district, Mr. Sinha has been Mandal president twice and currently serves as president of Narendra Bharti Mandal. Earlier, he also held the post of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) district vice-president.
While addressing presspersons at the party office, Mr. Bunty said, “I am unable to contest the Bankipur bypoll due to family reasons, and I am grateful to the Central and State leadership of the NDA, who allowed me to become the candidate.”
Party insiders said Mr. Bunty was considered a weak candidate against Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor.
It is also being said that Mr. Kishor has in his possession papers regarding Mr. Bunty’s dubious financial transactions, which forced him to withdraw his name from the poll battle. Mr. Kishor will file his nomination on July 13.
Many senior leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had attended the nomination ceremony of Mr. Bunty, including Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Janata Dal (United) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha along with Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha.
The seat had fallen vacant after the then BJP MLA Nitin Nabin was first nominated as the party’s national president and later, elected to the Rajya Sabha on April 16.
BJP stronghold
Bankipur Assembly constituency in Patna has been a stronghold of the BJP. Mr. Nabin won the seat in the 2025 Assembly election for the fifth consecutive term by defeating Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate Rekha Kumari with over 51,000 votes. JSP candidate Vandana Kumari had finished third in the poll. Mr. Nabin’s father, Navin Kishore Prasad Sinha, held the seat since 1995.
Reacting to the withdrawal of BJP candidate, Mr. Kishor, who was busy in campaign told presspersons, “There is no power greater than the power of the people. Until now, people used to flee out of fear of the BJP, but for the first time, justice has been served in that a BJP candidate has fled.”
He further alleged, saying, “BJP used to threaten people with ED and CBI or by wrongfully rejecting the nomination of the candidate. The BJP claims that Bankipur is its fortress, and today they are not able to find a candidate to contest and the one who stood ran away.”
The last date to file the nomination is July 13, and so far, 17 candidates have filed the nomination, including Opposition RJD candidate Rekha Gupta. Polling will be held on July 30, and counting of votes will take place on August 3.
Published – July 10, 2026 10:39 pm IST
