Several leaders of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of an Assembly bye-election in Bihar’s Bankipur constituency.

Among those who joined the BJP were KC Sinha, Bittu Singh and Gopal Singh, who had contested as Jan Suraaj’s candidates in the November 2025 Assembly polls.

The bye-poll will be held on July 30. It was necessitated as the MLA, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, resigned after becoming a Rajya Sabha MP.

Jan Suraaj founder Kishor is contesting the polls, making his electoral debut. The BJP has fielded Neeraj Kumar Sinha. The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has fielded Rekha Kumari Gupta.

Advertisement

The constituency near Patna is considered a stronghold of the BJP. Nabin had held it since 2010, after representing the Patna West seat before its boundaries were redrawn.

Jan Suraaj had made its electoral debut in the 2025 Bihar polls, fielding candidates in 238 of the state’s 243 constituencies. However, it failed to win any seats.

During the elections, Jan Suraaj’s Munger candidate Sanjay Singh had joined the BJP a day before the first phase of polling in the state.

This came after three Jan Suraaj candidates from Danapur, Brahmapur and Gopalganj withdrew their nominations in October. Kishor had alleged at the time that the three leaders were “forced to withdraw” their nominations because of pressure from the BJP.

Advertisement

After the results, Kishor had said that his decision not to contest the polls himself could be considered a “mistake”. The former political strategist had also said that he had not expected the party to secure less than 4% of the vote.

Jan Suraaj had lost its deposits in 236 constituencies, where its candidates failed to secure at least one-sixth of the votes polled.

Kishor had launched the party in October 2024, saying that it would seek to end political helplessness in Bihar by creating an alternative for the voters.

Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.