Bihar: RJD Fields Its Candidate From Bankipur Constituency, Congress Fumes

Patna: A day after Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor announced he would contest the Bankipur assembly by-poll, RJD on Monday declared its candidate for the seat, leaving Congress which was also staking a claim to the seat, red-faced.

RJD has re-nominated Rekha Gupta for the by-election. In the 2025 assembly election, BJP candidate Nitin Nabin, who is now the party`s national president, had defeated Rekha Gupta. Nitin polled 98,299 votes, while Rekha secured 46,363 votes.  

Addressing a press conference, state RJD president Mangani Lal Mandal officially announced Rekha's name. RJD's decision has apparently ruffled Congress`s feathers as the grand old party has also been staking its claim to the Bankipur seat.

Underplaying  his party`s annoyance over RJD declaring name of its candidate for the by-poll, Bihar Congress chief spokesperson Rajesh Rathore said that the state unit of the party had apprised the high command of workers’ sentiments. “It now all depends on the Congress high command to decide whether the party will contest the Bankipur by-poll,” he remarked.

Earlier, Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari said that the Congress had the strongest claim to the Bankipur seat. This has traditionally been a Congress seat, he added. “The allies of the INDIA bloc must decide together regarding this seat. RJD cannot take a unilateral decision when it is part of the alliance. Congress too does not have to make the decision alone,” he had remarked.

Congress contested from Bankipur in the 2015 and 2020 assembly elections but lost both times. Voting for this high-profile seat will take place on July 30, and the votes will be counted on August 3. The seat fell vacant after BJP national president Nitin Naveen was elected to the Rajya Sabha.

BJP has not yet announced its candidate. BJP leaders Ajay Alok, Ranveer Nandan, and Neel Ratan Ghosh are reportedly leading contenders for the ticket.

The notification for the Bankipur by-election has already been issued, and the nomination process has begun.