Patna, July 31: A day after polling concluded in the Bankipur Assembly by-election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday alleged a “silent understanding” between Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraj Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), claiming the opposition parties worked in tandem during the electoral contest.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP’s state headquarters in Patna, party national spokesperson Ajay Alok alleged that RJD workers and polling agents had appealed to their supporters to vote for the Jan Suraj candidate during polling.
Drawing parallels with past elections in West Bengal and Delhi, Alok claimed that opposition parties had adopted a similar strategy of transferring votes to defeat their principal rival. “Just as the Left shifted its votes to Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and Congress shifted votes to the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, a similar scene was witnessed in Bankipur,” he alleged.
The BJP also targeted RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, alleging that he refrained from criticising Prashant Kishor throughout the campaign and instead focused his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.
Alok further claimed that Prashant Kishor, who had previously been critical of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, avoided mentioning the RJD during the Bankipur campaign, which, according to the BJP, indicated a tacit political understanding between the two parties.
The BJP spokesperson also asserted that the RJD was losing its political ground, claiming that “a party that loses its political ground gradually ceases to exist.”
Polling for the Bankipur Assembly by-election was held on July 30, with a triangular contest involving BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha, RJD nominee Rekha Gupta and Jan Suraj founder Prashant Kishor. A total of 25 candidates were in the fray.
The bypoll recorded a voter turnout of 34.30 per cent, the lowest ever for the Bankipur constituency. Counting of votes is scheduled to take place on August 3.
The Jan Suraj Party and the RJD had not responded to the BJP’s allegations at the time of filing this report, and the claims of a “silent understanding” have not been independently verified.
