{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "From Bankipur to Datia, BJP Loses Ground in Bypolls While Paper Leak Anger Boils Over in Jharkhand and Karnataka",
  "summary": "Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party defeated the BJP in its Bihar stronghold of Bankipur, while the party also lost the Datia bypoll in Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, student protests over alleged paper leaks in recruitment exams have intensified in both Jharkhand and Karnataka.",
  "content": "Byelection results from two states have rattled the BJP. In Bihar's Bankipur seat, Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party defeated the BJP by 19,324 votes, while the party also lost the Datia seat in Madhya Pradesh. At the same time, student anger over alleged paper leaks in recruitment exams has spilled onto the streets in Jharkhand and Karnataka.\n\nPrashant Kishor breaches BJP's Bankipur stronghold\nThe Bankipur bypoll turned into the biggest talking point in Bihar politics, with Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party defeating the BJP by a margin of 19,324 votes on what was considered one of the party's safest seats. In last year's Bihar assembly election, Jan Suraaj had failed to win even a single seat, but the seat fell vacant after BJP MLA Nitin Naveen resigned, and Prashant Kishor went on to claim it. The RJD finished third in the contest, yet RJD leaders appeared satisfied with the outcome, arguing that it had broken the BJP's arrogance.\n\nThe real story here isn't just about winning or losing. What stands out is that Prashant Kishor defeated the BJP on exactly the seat the party considered its most secure. It belonged to BJP national president Nitin Naveen, who had won it in five consecutive elections. Losing such a firmly held seat is being seen as a significant blow to the BJP organisation.\n\nWhy the BJP didn't take PK seriously\nThere were solid reasons behind the BJP not treating Prashant Kishor and his party as a serious threat. Last year, Jan Suraaj contested all 243 seats in the Bihar assembly election and lost every single one. Even on the Bankipur seat itself, Prashant Kishor had polled less than 5 percent of the vote in that election. In other words, the picture changed completely within just a year.\n\nFor this bypoll, the BJP had thrown its full weight behind the contest, fielding 40 star campaigners. In response, Prashant Kishor ran a ground-level campaign with the help of around 250 professionals who went door to door across the constituency. He is said to have carefully identified and exploited every weakness in the BJP's campaign, whether it was Samrat Chaudhary's public image, the arrogance of local leaders, or simmering discontent among party workers.\n\nThis win effectively demolished the traditional electoral equations of party, caste and leadership on the Bankipur seat. The result could open new political space for Prashant Kishor in Bihar, while creating fresh challenges for Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary.\n\nCongress reclaims Datia as Narottam Mishra's old seat slips away again\nThe BJP's second major setback came from Madhya Pradesh. While the party scored a decisive win on the Manjalpur seat in Gujarat, it lost the Datia bypoll in Madhya Pradesh. Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh defeated the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by a margin of 6016 votes. Notably, this seat had also gone to Congress in the assembly election.\n\nIn that assembly election, Congress's Rajendra Bharti had defeated then-minister Narottam Mishra by more than seven and a half thousand votes. However, a court sentenced Rajendra Bharti to three years in an old case, costing him his assembly membership and triggering the bypoll.\n\nInterestingly, even in the ward where Narottam Mishra's own house is located in Datia, Congress polled 27 more votes than the BJP. The Datia defeat is being cited as an example of how the BJP effectively paved the way for its own loss. The seat originally belonged to Narottam Mishra, before he lost it to Congress and also lost his ministerial post. He had then hoped to contest the bypoll, and his supporters were fully charged up, but the BJP denied him the ticket. His supporters protested the decision, and Narottam Mishra himself was seen in tears, though it made no difference to the party's stance. It is now being said that Narottam Mishra's tears quietly sealed the seat's fate. In the days ahead, Narottam Mishra is expected to voice his displeasure, and Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders may have to answer for it.\n\nJharkhand students protest alleged paper leak\nAlongside the political upsets, anger over recruitment exams has become a major issue in Jharkhand and Karnataka. The Jharkhand Public Service Commission's preliminary exam is facing serious allegations of a paper leak and tampering with OMR sheets. Students allege that several candidates with lower scores were selected, including around 400 candidates from Haryana and UP who were declared pass in the exam.\n\nProtesting against this alleged irregularity, students have been sitting on a dharna continuously since July 29. Their primary demand is that the exam be cancelled. They are also demanding a CBI investigation into all exams conducted by the JPSC, JSSC and other agencies, along with accountability for those responsible for the paper leak.\n\nAbhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, spoke with the protesting students over a video call and extended support to their demands. Dipke said poor health was keeping him from travelling to Ranchi at the moment, but he would go once he recovered.\n\nA clear difference stands out between the Jharkhand and Delhi protests. In Delhi, the central government itself had acknowledged that a paper leak took place, whereas in Jharkhand, the investigation into the JPSC exam is still ongoing. In the Delhi case, the CBI arrested the accused and sent them to jail, but in Ranchi, students are demanding a CBI probe while the state government has not yet agreed to one. The CJP, which had backed the Delhi protests, has been notably absent from the Jharkhand agitation. In Delhi, nearly all anti-BJP parties had supported the dharna, while in Jharkhand, it is currently only the BJP that is backing the protest.\n\nPolitics heats up over Karnataka's veterinary recruitment scam\nThe paper leak issue is equally heated in Karnataka. Allegations of irregularities have surfaced in the recruitment of veterinary officers. The Karnataka Public Service Commission released the list of selected candidates for 400 veterinary officer posts on July 17. Following this, some candidates who had taken the exam claimed, with evidence, that selections were made in exchange for bribes ranging from Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore, and that OMR sheets had been tampered with.\n\nThe matter is currently pending before the High Court. After examining the evidence, the High Court described it as a case of broad daylight fraud, prompting the government to halt the recruitment process. A Special Investigation Team, or SIT, has since been formed, and the High Court has sought its report by August 6. Some students conducted a sting operation on the middlemen involved and released audio, video recordings and photographs related to the case. Police have so far arrested two middlemen, Sikandar Chaudhary and Arif Mohammad Mulla.\n\nMeanwhile, a statement from Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge added further fuel to the controversy. Priyank Kharge said students would first have to sit on a dharna, go hungry for 25 days, then face a lathicharge, and only then would their turn for resignations come, as Dharmendra Pradhan had given. The remark is being seen as deeply irresponsible, appearing to mock the student protests that took place in Delhi. Both the paper leak and the protests against it are being viewed as sensitive issues that cannot be brushed aside lightly.\n\nWhat this means for you\n• Across India: The BJP's losses in seats like Bankipur and Datia could influence the party's strategy and candidate selection ahead of future elections.\n• In Jharkhand and Karnataka: Students who appeared for the JPSC and veterinary recruitment exams face continued uncertainty over their results and appointments until the investigations and court proceedings are concluded.\n• In Karnataka: The stalled recruitment process will only move forward based on the SIT report the High Court has sought by August 6.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. Who won the Bankipur bypoll?\nPrashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party defeated the BJP on the Bankipur seat by 19,324 votes.\n\n2. Whose seat was Bankipur before this?\nIt belonged to BJP national president Nitin Naveen, who had won it in five consecutive elections; it fell vacant after his resignation.\n\n3. Who won the Datia bypoll?\nCongress's Ghanshyam Singh defeated the BJP's Ashutosh Tiwari by 6016 votes.\n\n4. Why did the Datia seat fall vacant?\nCongress's Rajendra Bharti, who had won the seat, lost his assembly membership after a court sentenced him to three years in an old case.\n\n5. What are students in Jharkhand protesting?\nThey allege a paper leak and OMR sheet tampering in the JPSC preliminary exam and have been on a dharna since July 29 demanding the exam be cancelled.\n\n6. What is the allegation in Karnataka's veterinary recruitment scandal?\nCandidates allege bribes of Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore were taken to select people for 400 veterinary officer posts, with OMR sheets allegedly altered.\n\n7. What action has been taken in the Karnataka case so far?\nThe High Court has halted the recruitment process, an SIT has been formed with its report due by August 6, and two middlemen have been arrested.\n\n8. Why did Karnataka's Home Minister's statement draw criticism?\nPriyank Kharge said students must sit on a dharna for 25 days and face a lathicharge before resignations would follow, a remark seen as mocking the protests.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/politics/bankipur-se-datia-taka-upachunavon-men-bjp-ki-jamina-khisaki-jharkhand-karnataka-men-pepara-lika-ki-aga-teza-13596",
  "category": "Politics",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-04",
  "tags": [
    "Prashant Kishor",
    "Jan Suraaj Party",
    "Bankipur bypoll",
    "Datia bypoll",
    "Narottam Mishra",
    "JPSC paper leak",
    "Karnataka veterinary recruitment scam",
    "BJP"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}