Prashant Kishor's Pyrrhic Victory In Bihar By-Polls
· Free Press Journal
Writing the political obituary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar would be premature. Yet, the Bankipur by-election has sounded an unmistakable warning. Prashant Kishor's victory is less a tribute to his political prowess than an indictment of the BJP's complacency, arrogance and growing disconnect with the youth.
For a party that had held this prestigious Patna constituency continuously since 1995, the defeat was stunning. Kishor won by more than 19,000 votes, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal secured over 14,000 votes, underscoring the scale of the anti-BJP sentiment.
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The BJP had become so confident of retaining the seat that it persuaded its sitting MLA, Nitin Nabin, to resign and move to the Rajya Sabha after his elevation as the party's national president.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself publicly described Nabin as his "boss". The electorate, however, refused to endorse what appeared to be an exercise in political entitlement.
Youth Anger Drives Verdict
The verdict was shaped less by Kishor's campaign than by the anger of Bihar's youth. The brutal police action against students protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and in Patna became a defining political moment.
Instead of listening to their grievances, sections of the ruling establishment dismissed them as anti-nationals and even attributed online campaigns to Pakistani hands. Such narratives collapsed when thousands of students from across North India assembled peacefully to demand justice.
The government underestimated both their resolve and their electoral strength. Young voters constitute a substantial segment of the Bankipur electorate. Together with their parents and relatives, they became a decisive force.
Their message was clear: they are tired of unemployment, repeated examination controversies and the compulsion to migrate in search of even low-paying jobs. Kishor merely gave political expression to a frustration that already existed. His criticism of Bihar's leadership resonated because it echoed a wider public perception rather than creating one.
A Warning For All
Even so, Bankipur should not be mistaken for the arrival of Jan Suraaj as a major political force. In the last Assembly election, the party failed to win a single seat, though it succeeded in splitting Opposition votes in several constituencies. Kishor himself did not contest that election. One by-election victory, therefore, does not erase those realities.
The real significance of Bankipur lies elsewhere. Along with the BJP's defeat in Madhya Pradesh and the erosion of its vote share in the Gujarat by-election, it signals growing impatience among young voters. Governments can dismiss protests, deploy police force and question the motives of demonstrators, but they cannot indefinitely ignore the aspirations of an entire generation.
Whether Bankipur marks the beginning of a durable political movement or merely a fleeting moment of protest politics will depend on what Kishor does next. The BJP has been warned. Kishor has been given an opportunity. Neither can afford to squander it.