- BJP replaced candidate Abhishek Bunty with Neeraj Kumar Sinha in Bankipur bypoll
- Bunty's father Ravindra Prasad was convicted in the fodder scam case
- BJP feared that Prashant Kishor will make it a big issue in the campaign
The Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar has taken a dramatic turn. Just a day after he filed his nomination, the BJP has changed its candidate.
The party on Friday named Neeraj Kumar Sinha as its candidate, replacing Abhishek Bunty. Sinha will now take on Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor in the seat, a traditional BJP stronghold.
Bunty had filed his nomination on Thursday with much fanfare, with Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and several other top NDA leaders present.
On Friday, Bunty wrote to state BJP president Sanjay Saraogi, expressing his inability to contest the election due to "personal reasons".
He repeated the same reason during a press conference later and appeared emotional during the briefing.
Soon after his withdrawal, speculation began.
The Inside Story
So, what prompted the sudden change?
According to sources, Abhishek Bunty's father, Ravindra Prasad, was convicted in the fodder scam case along with former Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The party feared that Prashant Kishor would raise the issue aggressively, which could hurt the BJP both electorally and at the narrative level.
In 2022, a CBI court convicted 75 people along with Lalu Yadav in the fodder scam case. Ravindra Prasad, who was the manager of Magadh Chemical Corporation at the time of the scam, was sentenced to 3 years in jail.
The CBI had filed three chargesheets in the case between 2001 and 2003. After examining 575 witnesses and 4,200 documents, the agency named Ravindra Prasad an accused in the Rs 139 crore scam.
Senior BJP leaders said they came to know about these charges recently and decided to change the candidate.
According to sources, Prashant Kishor had obtained all documents related to the case and was set to make it a major issue in the election.
The BJP went into pre-emptive mode and picked Neeraj Sinha, a young, ordinary party worker, as its candidate.
The Bankipur bypoll was necessitated after BJP President Nitin Nabin vacated the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha.
Despite the party never having lost the seat since 1995, when Nabin's late father Navin Kishore Sinha won the constituency, then known as Patna West, a high-voltage contest is expected with Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor also in the fray.
