Patna: A day after the filing of nomination papers by its candidate, BJP on Friday replaced him and announced Neeraj Kumar Sinha as its nominee for the July 30 Bankipur assembly byelection, which has attracted attention beyond Bihar as poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor (PK) is set to contest his first election from the seat.Abhishek Kumar ‘Bunty’ withdrew from the contest, citing family reasons. PK is scheduled to file his nomination papers on Monday, while RJD has fielded Rekha Gupta.Senior NDA functionaries, including CM Samrat Choudhary, had addressed a public meeting on Thursday in support of Abhishek, who later informed BJP state president Sanjay Saraogi of his decision through a letter. A grassroots BJP worker for the past 26 years, Abhishek was expected to take on PK and Rekha in the high-profile constituency represented by BJP national president Nitin Nabin.The dramatic development unfolded during a meeting in Patna attended by Bihar BJP in-charge Vinod Tawde and co-in-charge Deepak Prakash, among others. During the meeting, questions were raised over Abhishek’s family background. BJP sources said his father, Ravindra Prasad, was associated with a firm allegedly involved in the fraudulent withdrawal of funds from govt treasuries in the fodder scam. Sources said a court had imposed a fine of Rs 75,000 on him in the case in which Dhruv Bhagat was sentenced to seven years in jail.Addressing a hastily convened press conference at the BJP office, Abhishek said he was unable to contest the byelection because of “certain highly personal and unavoidable family reasons”.Extending his wishes, Samrat posted on X, “The BJP’s Central Election Committee has declared Neeraj Kumar Sinha as the NDA-backed BJP candidate for the Bankipur assembly byelection…I am confident that the people of Bankipur will ensure the victory of the ‘lotus’, driven by a commitment to development, good governance, and public service.”Born in 1994, Neeraj is a graduate and unmarried. He has been associated with BJP since 2006 and has served as booth president, mandal general secretary and district vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He is currently the president of a mandal named after his late uncle Narendra Bharti, who was a member of Bharatiya Jan Sangh.
BJP’s new Bankipur candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha with party’s state president Sanjay Saraogi in Patna on Friday
