Just a by-election.

Prashant Kishor, chief of the Jan Suraj Party won a by-election from Bankipur in Bihar by beating the BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes." Kishor received 64,151 votes while Kumar got 44,827. NDTV. Kishor's party failed to win a single seat in the assembly election held in November 2025, in which the BJP won the largest number of seats with 89 while its ally JD(U) came second with 85 seats. wikipedia. Bankipur was considered a BJP bastion, having held it continuously since 1995. TOI. Ironically, Prashant Kishor, a political strategist, helped Mr Narendra Modi win in Gujarat and the general election in 2014, when the BJP won a majority in the Lok Sabha with 282 seats (wikipedia) and made Mr Modi the prime minister. It would be premature to read too much into one by-election result. However, "Most by-elections are indeed insignificant but political circumstances sometimes transform them into historical milestones," exulted The Wire. "The BJP stands on two pillars of Modi and Shah. Even Municipal elections are won using their magic, money and muscles." But, "Modi and Shah are living in a delusion if they think the brutalities against the students (The Diplomat) and theft at Ram temple (BBC) will not bruise their image." Apart from the BJP, "What's most shocking, however, is the wild speculation on social media about the absence of Gyanesh Kumar magic in these elections." Mr Gyanesh Kumar is the Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India (eci.gov.in), which must be seen to be completely impartial and honest. If the social media is so contemptuous of Mr Gyanesh Kumar, it is a sad decline from Mr TN Seshan "who believed that if the Constitution had entrusted him with power, it was his moral obligation to use each of it without any fear, favor or hesitation." Politicians feared and hated him but, "Seshan's tenure transformed the Election Commission into one of the most respected institutions in India. Voters began to trust elections again." (Luv My India). "Bankipur stands out as an unusually educated, middle-class, and upper-caste oasis, in a poor rural state that's heavily fissured along caste lines." Bankipur is home to students, coaching centers, middle-class salaried households, small traders and migrant workers." "In recent decades, Bihar's elections have been fought between an NDA bloc (BJP and its allies) (wikipedia) that combined Hindutva and women-centric welfare, and RJD-led bloc that spoke the language of Mandal-inspired (wikipedia) social justice." Prashant Kishor campaigned on "education, jobs, out-migration, corruption and the quality of public services and leadership," wrote Uday Chandra. While an old steel bridge over a river at Ranikhet, which was fabricated at a foundry in Liverpool, England, in 1927, is still carrying heavy traffic, "in Bihar, 26 moderns concrete bridges have collapsed in the last five years. Among these, some collapsed during construction, and one even during the inauguration," wrote Gautam Bhatia. After the leak of questions of the recent NEET examination (BBC) students see no future for themselves. They feel they have nothing to lose and so have lost their fear. The regime cannot afford to lose power because they will be held to account for all their crimes. Already a Congress leader has threatened that BJP leaders will need protection. DH. First, Education Minister Dharmandra Pradhan was forced to resign (BBC) and now a citadel has fallen. When children chant "56-inch ka chhota bandar, bhaag Narender, bhaag Narender" (56-inch small monkey, run Narender, run Narender) (The Wire), your dignity is completely ruined. Time to go. Preserve your self respect. If you have any.