Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Nitish Kumar comes days after Prashant Kishor’s decisive victory in the Bankipur by-election.
The BJP’s loss of a constituency it had held for three decades carries significant political optics despite having little impact on its Assembly majority.
The result raises questions over whether Kishor’s entry signals a broader shift in Bihar’s political landscape or is merely an electoral blip.
PM Modi Meets Nitish Kumar After Bankipur By-Election Defeat
The get-together between the two leaders after such a tectonic shift in Bihar’s political spectrum has naturally meant that discussions over its agenda have almost immediately erupted
Summary
Following the BJP’s defeat in the recently concluded Bankipur by-election, Prime Minister Modi met former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Delhi on Tuesday. Sanjay Jha, national working president of the JDU was also present at the meeting.
The get-together between the two leaders after such a tectonic shift in Bihar’s political spectrum has naturally meant that discussions over its agenda have almost immediately erupted. The loss of a seat which was considered a BJP stronghold and favoured the ruling party’s caste arithmetic is a significant blow and has transformed the political landscape in the state.
Bankipur by-election
The Bankipur assembly constituency was held by current BJP president Nitin Nabin, who then vacated the seat after his elevation to the Rajya Sabha following his election as party president. The saffron party at that time might have considered Bankipur to be a safe seat, but with Prashant Kishor entering the fray, all calculations changed.
The BJP even had to change their candidate after Abhishek ‘Bunty’ withdrew his nomination citing family reasons. The party then fielded Neeraj Kumar, who like Abhishek, belonged to the Kayastha community which dominates the Bankipur constituency.
After the results to the by-poll were out, Kishor stood victorious with a margin of over 19,000 votes. Neeraj Kumar finished second. While the BJP’s traditional opponents in the state, the RJD, finished a distant third, receiving fewer votes than the victory margin.
State of the Assembly
The defeat in the by-elections is not that numerically significant for the BJP. The ruling NDA coalition has a comfortable majority which would not even notice a single missing legislator. But, the optics of the defeat are significant.
The BJP lost the seat previously held by its national president, which was also considerd a stronghold which had not fallen for 30 years. The recent churn in Bihar with the humongous presence of Nitish Kumar moving on from the state and the transition into the first BJP led government, under Samrat Choudhary, in the state has precipitated a state of uncertainty.
Advertisement
The defeat in these circumstances could spell some trouble for the ruling dispensation though it is also as likely to be nothing but a blip in the grand scheme of things.
Published At: