The biggest setback for the BJP came from Bihar, where Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes in Bankipur.
The BJP had a mixed day, at best, in the assembly bypolls on Monday. The saffron party won only one of the three seats that went to polls, all of them in states it rules.
It lost the high-profile Bankipur seat in Bihar and failed to wrest Datia in Madhya Pradesh, though the BJP held on to Manjalpur in PM Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
The results came days after the Centre was put under pressure — and the education minister had to be replaced — over protests that saw massive participation of youth in Delhi against repeated examination paper leaks.
Bankipur loss hands Prashant Kishor first win
The biggest setback for the BJP came from Bihar, where Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor defeated BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar by 19,324 votes in Bankipur.
The BJP had held the seat since 1995.
The bypoll was held after BJP national president Nitin Nabin resigned from the assembly upon moving to the Rajya Sabha.
This was Kishor’s first election victory since entering politics and gave Jan Suraaj its first MLA. The party had failed to open its account in the 2025 Bihar elections.
During the campaign last week, Kishor said Jan Suraaj already changed Bihar’s political debate despite not being in power.
RJD’s vote share also dropped sharply. Its candidate, who had polled more than 46,000 votes in the last assembly election, got fewer than 15,000 votes this time.
BJP loses Datia
The BJP also lost the Datia assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh, with Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeating BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari by 6,016 votes.
The Congress retained the seat, which it had won in the 2023 elections.
BJP holds Manjalpur
The BJP’s only win came from Gujarat, where it comfortably retained the Manjalpur Assembly seat.
BJP’s Satendrabhai Patel defeated Congress candidate Bhikhabhai Rabari by a margin of over 30,000 votes.
Opposition steps up attack
The Opposition was quick to target the BJP after the results.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav linked the defeats to public anger over paper leaks, unemployment, inflation and corruption. Calling the verdict the “beginning of change”, he said it showed the “unity of the youth and the outrage of their guardians”.
He added that “even the BJP’s safest and most traditional seats won’t be able to save them from defeat now” and described the outcome as the “double defeat of the double-engine government”.
“Bhagwan ko nachane ka ahankaar rakhne walon ko Bhagwan ne hi nacha diya. (Those who believed they could make God dance have instead been humbled by God Himself),” the SP chief said.
भगवान को नचाने का अहंकार रखनेवालों को भगवान ने ही नचा दिया। अपने को भगवान से ऊपर समझनेवालों को भगवान ने चलती गाड़ी से नीचे उतार दिया है और साथ ही उनके घमंड का बुख़ार भी।
ये युवाओं की एकता और उनके अभिभावकों के आक्रोश का संयुक्त परिणाम है क्योंकि:
– ‘वोट चोरी’
– ‘पेपर चोरी’
-…— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 3, 2026
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal also took a swipe at the BJP over the bypoll results.
Congratulating Prashant Kishor on his debut win, Kejriwal said, “The BJP has lost even the seat of its national president.”
He claimed the BJP’s “ground has completely shifted” and blamed the result on issues such as “fund theft, paper leaks, E20” and growing public dissatisfaction with the Narendra Modi government.
“The arrogance is breaking down. The people of the country have given a signal of change,” he added.
भाजपा अपने राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष की सीट ही हार गई। बांकीपुर से प्रशांत किशोर जी बड़े मार्जिन से जीत गए। उनको बहुत-बहुत बधाई।
भाजपा की ज़मीन पूरी तरह से खिसक चुकी है। चंदा चोरी, पेपर लीक, E20… मोदी सरकार के प्रति लोगों में गहरा असंतोष है। अहंकार टूटता जा रहा है। देश की जनता ने… https://t.co/vgRNC52xVV
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 3, 2026
Results come after Jantar Mantar protests
The bypoll results came days after the Centre took a beating from non-stop GenZ-driven protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over exam paper leaks and education reforms.
The agitation, led by the satirical digital front Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), began over the NEET paper leaks before ballooning into a mass movement on education, jobs and governance.
After over a month of protests and hunger strikes, the Centre opened talks with CJP leaders. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan was forced to resign on June 25, and the government announced a series of measures, including examination reforms, discussions on preventing future paper leaks and compensation for families of students who died by suicide following exam paper leaks.
The CJP later ended its protest, saying the government accepted its key demands.
