Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor opened an early lead in the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar as counting progressed on Monday, emerging ahead of BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha in one of the state's most closely watched contests.

After the first round of counting, Kishor had secured 2,225 votes, leading Sinha by 862 votes. The BJP candidate received 1,363 votes, while RJD's Rekha Gupta was a distant third with 505 votes. Officials said votes would be counted across 31 rounds.

The counting began at 8am, with the bypoll widely seen as a key test of Kishor's political appeal in an urban constituency long dominated by the BJP.

Jan Suraaj maintains advantage after four rounds

Successive rounds of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) counting showed Jan Suraaj retaining its overall lead, although the BJP narrowed the gap in individual rounds.

The second round produced 1,570 votes for Jan Suraaj, 1,211 for the BJP and 159 for the RJD. In the third round, the contest tightened considerably, with Jan Suraaj polling 1,237 votes against the BJP's 1,236, while the RJD received 103 votes.

The BJP edged ahead in the fourth round alone, polling 1,254 votes against Jan Suraaj's 1,237. The RJD secured 117 votes in that round.

After four rounds, the cumulative tally stood at 6,269 votes for Jan Suraaj, 5,064 for the BJP and 884 for the RJD, leaving Kishor with an overall lead of 1,205 votes.

As early trends emerged, Jan Suraaj workers gathered at the party's camp office and raised slogans in support of their founder.

High-stakes contest in a BJP stronghold

The Bankipur by-election was necessitated after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned from the Assembly seat in April following his election to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP fielded Neeraj Kumar Sinha, a youth wing leader, to defend the constituency.

Bankipur has remained with the BJP for around three decades, making the contest a significant test for both the ruling party and Kishor, who is contesting as a political debutant.

RJD again nominated Rekha Gupta, who lost the 2025 Assembly election to Nitin Nabin by more than 50,000 votes.

The bypoll, held on July 30, recorded a voter turnout of 34.30 per cent, more than seven percentage points lower than the 41.45 per cent turnout in the last Assembly election.

Meanwhile, RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav visited the Baba Harihar Nath temple in Sonepur and offered prayers before counting began.

Political observers cautioned that the counting was still at an early stage and that the final outcome would become clearer as more rounds were completed. However, the initial trends suggested Kishor had mounted a strong challenge in a constituency where the BJP has remained dominant for decades, while the RJD was trailing well behind in third place.