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Counting of votes for the Bankipur Assembly by-election in Bihar began on Monday morning, with Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor securing an early lead over the BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha in the opening round.

According to initial trends, Kishor polled 2,225 votes, leading Sinha by 862 votes after the first round of counting. The BJP candidate had secured 1,363 votes, while the RJD's Rekha Gupta was in third place with 505 votes. Election officials said the counting process would be conducted over 31 rounds.

The by-election has attracted considerable attention as it marks Kishor's electoral debut after years as a political strategist and the launch of his Jan Suraaj Party. The contest is also seen as a test for the BJP in a constituency it has held continuously since 1995, when the seat was known as Patna West.

Polling for the by-election was held on 30 July, recording a voter turnout of 34.30 per cent, significantly lower than the 41.45 per cent registered during the 2025 assembly election.

The vacancy arose after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned from the Assembly in April following his election to the Rajya Sabha. Nabin had retained the seat for a fifth consecutive term in the 2025 Assembly election, defeating the RJD's Rekha Gupta by more than 50,000 votes.

The BJP has fielded youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha to defend the seat, while the RJD has once again nominated Gupta.

Meanwhile, ahead of the commencement of counting, RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav visited the Baba Harihar Nath temple in Sonepur to offer prayers.

With agency inputs