Overview
- Abhishek Kumar Sinha withdrew his candidature on Friday after filing nomination the previous day, telling reporters he could not contest for ‘family reasons’.
- Hours after the withdrawal the BJP named 32-year-old Neeraj Kumar Sinha as its replacement and highlighted his long service in booth and mandal organisational roles.
- The bypoll is now a high-profile three-way contest between the BJP, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor and RJD nominee Rekha Gupta with nomination filings due by July 13.
- Several outlets and opposition figures cited 'negative inputs' including disputed links to the 1990s fodder scam as a possible motive for the withdrawal, but those claims remain unverified and contested.
- Bankipur has been a BJP stronghold since 1995 and the July 30 polling with counting on August 3 will be watched as a test of the party's local hold and the political momentum of Prashant Kishor's new party.