Patna: The Bankipur assembly byelection took a dramatic turn on Friday after BJP candidate Abhishek Kumar ‘Bunty’ withdrew from the contest a day after filing his nomination papers. The move prompted RJD, Congress and Jan Suraaj (JS) functionaries to claim that the development reflected the BJP’s nervousness and internal divisions.Abhishek cited “family reasons” for his withdrawal. BJP later named Neeraj Kumar Sinha as its candidate for the July 30 bypoll. The other main contenders are Jan Suraaj founder and poll strategist Prashant Kishor (PK), who is contesting his first election, and RJD’s Rekha Gupta, who had secured more than 46,000 votes from the seat in 2025.Calling the development a boost for his party, JS national spokesman Kumar Saurabh said the change showed the growing support for Prashant.“This is very good news for the Jan Suraaj. PK had said that the by-poll outcome, or the defeat of the BJP candidate, will not result in change of the government in the state, but the politics of the state will take a new direction. The result is now for everyone to see,” he said.RJD chief spokesman and former MLA Shakti Singh Yadav said BJP had “sacrificed” one of its workers by replacing Abhishek with what he called an “imported candidate”.“The event has galvanised the opposition parties, most sections and progressive elements in favour of the RJD candidate,” Yadav said, claiming there was strong support for Rekha Gupta.State Congress spokesman Asit Nath Tiwari said Abhishek’s withdrawal had caused embarrassment to BJP national president Nitin Nabin. He alleged that complaints from state BJP functionaries had forced the party’s central leadership to replace its original nominee.
