PATNA, Aug 17: Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor took oath as a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Monday after winning the Bankipur by-election earlier this month, ending the Bharatiya Janata Party’s three-decade hold over the constituency.
Kishor, who made his electoral debut in the August 3 bypoll, was sworn in as the newly elected Bankipur MLA in the presence of Bihar Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar. He pledged allegiance to the Constitution and vowed to discharge his duties honestly.
Speaking to reporters after taking the oath, Kishor said joining a House that had been represented by some of Bihar’s most prominent political leaders was a matter of pride as well as a major responsibility.
“To be a member of the House in which people like Krishna Sinha, Karpoori Thakur, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Kedar Pandey, Ram Vilas Paswan, and Sushil Kumar Modi served, is a matter of pride for me,” Kishor said.
“For a person like me, it is not only an honour but also a very great responsibility,” he added.
शपथ लेने के बाद प्रशांत किशोर का बयान। pic.twitter.com/xD91GX0L6N
— Jan Suraaj (@jansuraajonline) August 17, 2026
Kishor said he would draw inspiration from the hundreds of legislators who had devoted valuable years of their lives to improving society and the state.
Kishor won 64,151 votes in the Bankipur bypoll, defeating BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar, who received 44,827 votes, by a margin of 19,324 votes.
The result dealt a setback to the BJP, which had held the prestigious Patna constituency for three decades. The bypoll was triggered after BJP national president Nitin Nabin vacated the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha.
Bankipur had been a BJP stronghold since 1995, represented continuously by Nabin and his late father, Navin Chandra Sinha.
