Polling begins in Bankipur by-election as Prashant Kishor makes electoral debut

Voting for the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar commenced at 7 am on Thursday under extensive security arrangements, with nearly 3.8 lakh electors set to decide the fate of 26 candidates in one of the state's most closely watched contests.

Polling will continue until 6 pm across all 422 polling stations in the urban constituency, according to officials from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer. Votes will be counted on 3 August.

The by-election has attracted significant attention as Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor enters the electoral arena for the first time. The former political strategist is seeking to break the Bharatiya Janata Party's long-standing hold over the constituency.

The seat fell vacant after BJP national president Nitin Nabin was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April. Nabin had retained Bankipur for a fifth consecutive term in the Assembly elections held last November, defeating Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Rekha Gupta by a margin of more than 50,000 votes.

The BJP has fielded its youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha in the bypoll, hoping to extend the party's winning streak in the constituency, which it has held continuously since 1995, when it was known as Patna West.

According to Election Commission data, every polling booth in the constituency is located within urban limits.

Shortly after voting began, Kishor alleged that Bihar Police had detained several of his supporters at the behest of the ruling BJP, claiming the party feared defeat in the by-election. There was no immediate response from the police or the BJP to the allegation.

With PTI inputs