New BJP candiate Neeraj Kunar Sinha (left) with BJP state president Sanjay Sarogi (Special Arrangement)In an interesting turn of events ahead of the July 30 Bankipur bypoll, BJP candidate Abhishek Kumar Friday withdrew his nomination citing “family reasons”, with the party soon declaring its Mandal adhyaksh Neeraj Kumar Sinha as the new candidate for a bypoll shaping up to be a triangular contest with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP).With JSP founder Prashant Kishor entering the fray, Bankipur is turning into a prestige battle for the BJP, especially since its national president Nitin Nabin has represented the seat five times since 2006. The constituency has been a BJP stronghold since 1995, when it was still called Patna West.The new candidate, Neeraj Kumar Sinha, 32, is currently the Mandal adhyaksh of Narendra Bharti Mandal, named after his uncle, who was associated with the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. Sinha, serving a second term as Mandal president, was also vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. A graduate from Patna, he has been a BJP member since the age of 12.An overwhelmed Sinha told reporters: “I had never imagined that a booth level worker like me could be given such an honour. I’m overwhelmed and confident of my victory by a huge margin.”Earlier in the day, Abhishek Kumar alias Abhishek Bunty, who had filed his nomination Thursday and later shared a public platform with senior leaders, said: “I would say with all humility that I would not be able to contest elections because of family issues. I will continue to work for the party. I’m thankful to the party for considering me for the Bankipur bypoll.”BJP sources said Abhishek Kumar, who had studied only up to Class 10, “looked a weak candidate as compared to RJD’s Rekha Gupta, a graduate, and highly qualified JSP candidate Prashant Kishor”. A senior BJP leader said: “We stick to our stand of giving tickets to common workers. Second, the party went with an upper caste Kayastha candidate, a tradition we have maintained from Prasad days (1977) to Naveen Kishore Sinha (1995 to 2005) to Nitin Nabin (2006 to 2026).”Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. Expertise He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read More