Prateek Tanmay
2 min readPatnaJul 15, 2026 11:57 PM IST
Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) received a jolt Wednesday with some of its key leaders, including mathematician KC Sinha, joining the BJP in the presence of the party’s state president, Sanjay Saraogi.
BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha is pitted against Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Rekha Gupta and JSP’s Prashant Kishor in the Bankipur bypoll, scheduled for July 30. The bypoll was necessitated after BJP’s five-time MLA and party national president Nitin Nabin was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Among those who crossed over to the BJP was renowned mathematician K C Sinha, who unsuccessfully contested last year’s Bihar Assembly polls as the JSP nominee from the Kumhrar constituency. Other JSP leaders who joined the BJP included Ritesh Ranjan alias Bittu Singh, the party’s candidate from Digha, Gopal Singh, its Maner candidate, and Braj Kishore Sinha, JSP’s Kisan Morcha district president.
BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi welcomed the JSP leaders into the party and said they had shown how there was “a national wave of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies”.
Mathematician KC Sinha said: “Our decision to join BJP was driven by national interest and a desire to contribute towards India’s global leadership”.
The Bankipur bypoll has assumed significance as it marks Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor’s electoral debut against the BJP in one of its strongest urban bastions. The BJP has held the seat since 1995.
