Bankipur Bypoll 2026: Voting percentage in Bankipur Assembly by-election was less than expected. Despite the entry of Prashant Kishor, there was not a big increase in voting. Could the politics of change not bring the voters to the booth?
Bankipur By Election: Bankipur assembly by-election is being considered an important political test for Prashant Kishore, founder of Jansuraj, who claims to bring about a change in the politics of Bihar. It was believed that with his entry a large number of new and angry voters would reach the polling stations. But voting trends did not present such a picture. The pace of voting throughout the day was slower than expected and the voting percentage was also lower than the previous assembly elections. In such a situation, now the discussion is about whether the message of politics of change could reach the voters effectively.
Change was expected, but voting did not increase
In the last several elections in Bankipur assembly seat, the voting percentage has been between 39 to 42 percent. Political analysts believed that this time the presence of Prashant Kishore could also bring to the polling booth those voters who traditionally maintain distance from both BJP and RJD.
However, the pace remained slow from the initial hours of voting. Only 4.21 percent voting took place till 9 am, whereas by the same time 5.10 percent votes had been cast in the 2025 assembly elections. Even till 1 pm, voting reached only 20.01 percent, which was less than the last election. Till 5 pm the total voting was recorded at 33.57 percent.
Also read: LDA New Rule: Now this work will have to be done before building a house or shop, otherwise the map will get stuck.
The focus was on about 60% voters
Prashant Kishore’s strategy was believed to be focused on voters who are dissatisfied with traditional political parties and want change on issues like corruption, education, health and development.
Politically, it was believed that if this class voted in large numbers, the direction of the electoral contest could change. But the expected increase in voting percentage was not seen. This has raised the question whether the message of change was not successful in bringing voters to the polling booth.
Now the results will come on 3rd September, only then the picture will be clear.
According to political analysts, it is not easy to predict election results based only on voting percentage. Sometimes low voting goes in favor of the ruling party and sometimes it also benefits the opposition.
The results of Bankipur by-election will be known after counting of votes on September 3. Only after this it will be clear whether Prashant Kishor’s election strategy was able to influence the voters or not and whether Jansuraj was successful in registering his strong presence in the politics of Bihar. At present, low voting has definitely started a new debate regarding electoral equations.
Also read: Government alert about Indians living abroad, PM Modi holds big review meeting