Prashant Kishor to take oath as Bihar MLA today after Bankipur bypoll win

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor will be sworn in as a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Monday, August 17, following his decisive victory in the Bankipur Assembly by-election. The ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 am in the office chamber of Bihar Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar inside the Assembly’s main building in Patna.

According to a letter from the Deputy Secretary of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Kishor has been asked to appear at the specified time and venue to take the oath or make the required affirmation before assuming office. With this, he will formally begin his tenure as an MLA and become the first legislator elected on a Jan Suraaj Party ticket.

Kishor secured his first electoral victory after entering politics by defeating BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha in the Bankipur bypoll, ending the BJP’s long-standing hold over the constituency since 1995. Polling was held on July 30 and counting on August 3; Kishor maintained his lead throughout and won by a margin of 19,324 votes. He polled 64,151 votes, while Sinha received 44,827 votes; RJD’s Rekha Gupta finished third with 14,273 votes.

The result is being seen as a major breakthrough for the relatively new Jan Suraaj Party, giving it its first presence in the state legislature after it failed to win any seat in the 2025 Bihar Assembly election despite contesting 238 seats. Party workers and leaders have described the win as the start of a “new politics” in Bihar, and Kishor has said the outcome has changed the “character” of the state government, hinting at future leadership and governmental changes.

(Inputs from IANS)