Arvind Kejriwal Congratulates Prashant Kishor On Jan Suraaj's Big Bankipur Win, Says 'People Want Change'

Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor secured a major political victory on Monday after defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Bihar's Bankipur Assembly by-election, ending the saffron party's three-decade dominance in the constituency.

Kishor defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by a margin of 19,246 votes, delivering a significant setback to the party in a seat it had retained continuously since 1995. The constituency was represented by BJP leader Nitin Nabin for nearly two decades before the by-election.

Soon after the result, former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Kishor and used the opportunity to criticise the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

In a post on X, Kejriwal wrote, "The BJP has lost even the seat of its national president. Prashant Kishor ji has won from Bankipur with a huge margin. Heartiest congratulations to him."

He further alleged that growing public dissatisfaction over issues such as paper leaks and other concerns had weakened the BJP's standing among voters.

The Bankipur result is particularly significant because Kishor had framed the contest as more than just an election for a legislative seat. During the campaign and throughout the counting process, he repeatedly maintained that the by-election was a referendum on Bihar's future leadership.

"This is the victory of the people of Bankipur," Kishor had said. He also argued that the people of Bihar wanted "a good chief minister" who could improve education, generate employment opportunities and curb migration from the state.

Kishor had also emphasised that his objective was not merely to win an election but to ensure the state's development, saying that Bihar needed "good leadership and real development" irrespective of which party was in power.