'BJP is scared of Prashant Kishor': Jan Suraaj after Abhishek Kumar Sinha withdraws nomination

THe Jan Suraaj company on fri claimed the BJP was "scared" of its father Prashant Kishor after the crocus sativus company replaced its candidate for the upcoming Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar.In a post on X, Jan Suraaj said, "Prashant Kishor se dari BJP ne chhoda maidan" (BJP, scared of Prashant Kishor, abandons the battlefield). The reaction came after BJP's original candidate, Abhishek Kumar Sinha, withdrew his nomination a day after filing his papers, citing family reasons.Sinha withdraws"The BJP had made me the NDA candidate for the bypoll to the Bankipur assembly seat. I express my gratitude to the central and state leadership. However, due to family reasons, I am unable to contest the bypoll," Sinha told a press conference in Patna.The BJP had announced Sinha, a leader of its youth wing, as its candidate on Tuesday for the bypoll to the Bankipur seat, which fell vacant after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned as MLA following his election to the Rajya Sabha.The party has now named Neeraj Kumar Sinha as its candidate to take on Kishor in the July 30 bypoll. RJD's Rekha Kumari is also in the fray.Prashant Kishor had announced his candidature for the Bankipur bypoll on Sunday, describing the contest as a "referendum" on the performance of the BJP-led government in Bihar. Addressing party workers in Patna, the former political strategist urged the constituency's nearly four lakh voters to "vote for making a difference."The last date for filing nominations is July 13. Votes will be cast on July 30 and counted on August 3.Kishor, who seeks to wrest the seat that had elected Nabin five times on the trot, the last occasion being last year's assembly polls, pointed out that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had not given up his seat in Gujarat Vidhan Sabha upon becoming the BJP chief."Yes, I know that the BJP considers Bankipur as its stronghold. Voters here have repeatedly reposed their trust in Nitin Nabin. But Nitin Nabin took no time in forgetting them. He abandoned the seat at the first opportunity to enter Parliament", the former poll strategist told PTI video.Kishor rejected the BJP's claim that after being elected to the top party post, Nabin's continuance as a member of a state assembly had become untenable, a reason why he got elected to the Rajya Sabha in April.The IPAC founder, who had handled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll campaign in 2014, pointed out, "We have the example of Amit Shah. He was a member of the legislative assembly in Gujarat when he became the BJP president. He did not give up his seat. There was no compulsion for Nabin to move to Delhi. He chose to do so".(With inputs from PTI)