Patna/Bhopal/Ahmedabad: The counting of votes for the crucial by-elections in three BJP-ruled states — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — is underway.
The election for Bankipur assembly constituency in Bihar, Datia in Madhya Pradesh and Manjalpur in Gujarat, took place on July 30.
Jan Suraaj Party candidate Prashant Kishor was leading by a margin of 862 votes over BJP’s Neeraj Kumar Sinha in the early trends of Bankipur by-election results, officials said on Monday.
While political strategist-turned-politician Kishor bagged 2,225 votes, Sinha got 1,363 votes and RJD’s Rekha Gupta stood third with 505 votes after the first round of counting. A total of 31 rounds of counting will be held.
The counting of votes for the Bankipur assembly bypoll in Bihar began at 8 am here on Monday, with all eyes on whether debutant Kishor wrests the seat from the BJP.
The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of BJP national president Nitin Nabin, who gave up the seat in April upon election to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP has fielded low-key youth wing leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha.
RJD’s Rekha Gupta, who lost to BJP’s Nitin Nabin in 2025 assembly elections by a margin of over 50,000 votes, has been fielded again by her party.
The bypoll, held on July 30, recorded a voter turnout of 34.30 per cent, down by more than seven per cent from the 41.45 per cent registered in the last assembly elections.
Meanwhile, RJD working president Tejashwi Yadav visited Baba Harihar Nath temple in Sonepur and offered prayers before the counting began.
Madhya Pradesh’s Datia Implications
BJP candidate Ashutosh Tiwari was leading by 875 votes over Congress nominee Ghanshyam Singh after the second round of counting on Monday for the Datia assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
Tiwari secured 8,253 votes, while Singh bagged 7,378 votes after the completion of two of 15 rounds of counting, they said.
The counting of votes commenced at 8 am at the Polytechnic College under tight security.
The bypoll was necessitated after a Delhi court in April this year sentenced Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti to three years’ imprisonment in a cheating case, leading to the termination of his assembly membership.
Besides Congress’s Ghanshyam Singh and BJP nominee Ashutosh Tiwari, 19 other candidates also contested the Datia bypoll.
Voting was held on July 30, and recorded a 71.44 per cent turnout.
Bharti had defeated BJP leader and former state home minister Narottam Mishra by over 7,700 votes in the 2023 assembly elections.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, the BJP has 164 MLAs, the Congress 64 and the Bharat Adivasi Party one legislator.
The outcome of the bypoll may not alter the stability of the BJP government in the state, but political observers believe it carries wider implications, coming against the backdrop of recent student protests and the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister.
According to analysts, the closely watched result could significantly shape the political standing of both the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress in the state ahead of the 2028 assembly elections.
The Datia bypoll is also the first electoral test for newly appointed BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal.
Hours ahead of the counting, the Congress suspended Bharti from the party’s primary membership on Sunday night, according to an official statement.
Bharti, who represented the Datia seat in the assembly before his disqualification, said the action taken against him was wrong and that the public would respond to this in the 2028 Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.
He alleged that the entire episode (a reference to the cheating case and his subsequent suspension from the party) was a “conspiracy” by Narottam Mishra and that Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh had contested the election in collusion with him.
Gujarat’s Manjalpur Contest
BJP candidate Satish Patel surged ahead by more than 8,000 votes over his Congress rival after four of 19 rounds of counting in the Manjalpur assembly by-election in Gujarat on Monday, officials said.
Counting of votes began at 8 am at Bhavan’s School premises in the Makarpura area of Vadodara amid tight security.
Patel secured 12,941 votes after the end of four rounds, while his nearest rival, Congress candidate and former minister Bhikhabhai Rabari, polled 4,568 votes, giving the BJP nominee a lead of 8,373 votes, according to officials.
The bypoll, held on July 30, recorded a voter turnout of 37.5 per cent. The election was necessitated by the death of senior BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Yogesh Patel on June 2 following a prolonged illness.
The BJP fielded former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor Satish Govindbhai Patel, while the Congress nominated its Gujarat vice president Bhikhabhai Rabari.
The outcome of the Manjalpur assembly bypoll won’t have any bearing on the BJP’s strength; however, it remains interesting to watch how Congress puts up a fight in the saffron stronghold in Vadodara city.
