Overview
- Tej Pratap Yadav said Friday that his Janshakti Janata Dal will support Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor in the Bankipur Assembly by-election.
- The JJD moved to back Kishor after its candidate Veena Manvi (also reported as Veena Mandavi) had her nomination rejected during scrutiny and the party chose not to field a replacement.
- Prashant Kishor is contesting to break a BJP hold on Bankipur that dates to 2010 while the BJP is defending the seat with Neeraj Kumar Sinha.
- Tej Pratap appealed to RJD candidate Rekha Kumari to cooperate with the front backed by his party even though the RJD remains in the race, a dynamic that could split opposition votes.
- The bypoll was triggered by Nitin Nabin's move to the Rajya Sabha and is being framed by opponents around student protests over alleged NEET and exam paper leaks and concerns about healthcare, factors that voters say could influence the July 30 result.