Prashant Kishor to contest from Bankipur: Nitin Naveen to contest from BJP's stronghold, know who can be the BJP candidate

Prashant Kishor of the Jansuraj Party will be the candidate from Patna's Bankipur assembly seat. The announcement was made by the party's national president Manoj Bharti. Prashant Kishor said, "For the last four years, Jan Suraj has been my life. I will try to fulfill the responsibility given to me by the party. If we win from Bankipur, it will boost the morale of the party and the party will move forward," he said. In the last few days, PK himself had said, "If the BJP loses a strong seat like Bankipur because of my contest, I am ready to contest the elections. These candidates from the BJP can be 1. Ajay Alok, who is known as a strong face of the BJP in the national media, is also being seen as the successor of Nitin Nabin in Bankipur. Coming from the Kayastha caste, Dr. Alok's father Padma Shri Gopal Prasad Sinha is a senior doctor. He has a different image in Patna. Alok, who started his political career in 2003, contested the 2005 election on an LJP ticket from Kaimur's Chainpur assembly seat. In the 2010 elections, he contested from the same seat on a BSP ticket. Both of them lost the election. He joined the JD(U) in 2012. He became the party's spokesperson and general secretary. In 2023, he resigned from the JD(U) and joined the BJP. At present, the BJP is the fierce face of the national media. 2. Ranveer Nandan BJP leader Ranveer Nandan is the chairman of the Dharmic Trust Board. His name is also being discussed for the Bankipur seat. Ranveer is considered to be an educated and gentle image leader. He belongs to the Kayastha caste. He is a resident of Patna. Prof. Ranveer Nandan was once considered a confidant of Nitish Kumar. In 2014, Nitish sent him to the Legislative Council for the first time from his party's quota. After the end of his term in 2020, he was not given another chance by the party. After this, he resigned from the JD(U) in September 2023. The sons of many leaders are also coming up for their candidature from Bankipur, who are making the rounds of leadership for the ticket. Two of these names are the most prominent. Former Kumharar MLA Arun Sinha's son Ashish Sinha is trying to get a ticket. Arun Sinha was denied a ticket from the Kumharar seat during the 2025 assembly elections. At that time, there was a lot of opposition. Ashish Sinha has been the president of the Patna University Students' Union. His father is also busy recommending him. The by-election to the Rajya Sabha fell vacant due to the resignation of five-time MLA Nitin Nabin. Nitin Naveen was appointed as the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party and he went to the Rajya Sabha in April 2026, due to which the seat fell vacant. The Bankipur assembly constituency, formerly known as Patna West, has been ruled by Nitin Nabin and before that by his late father Naveen Kishore Prasad Sinha for the past two decades. Why is this election important for Prashant Kishor? PK did not contest any seat on its own in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, and his party Jan Suraj failed to win a single seat with a vote share of just 3.34 per cent. Prashant Kishor himself admitted that not contesting the polls was his "strategic mistake" which he is now rectifying. Jan Suraj has so far prepared his strong ground through padyatras in rural Bihar. The biggest test of PK's organisational ability will be to woo the urban, educated and traditionally pro-BJP voters of Patna to his side. Prashant Kishor and Jan Suraj are contesting this by-election as a referendum on the functioning of the NDA government led by Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary. "If the BJP loses the Bankipur election, it will send a message to Amit Shah and Narendra Modi in Delhi that the people of Bihar are not happy with Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary," Kishor said. The seat has been held by the BJP since 1995. The influential business class and the Kayastha electorate here are considered to be the backbone of the BJP.