Prashant Kishor files nomination for Bankipur bypoll, takes on BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Monday filed his nomination papers for the Bankipur Assembly bypoll in Bihar, formally entering the electoral fray for the first time against the BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha in a high-profile contest.

Kishor, who is seeking to wrest the BJP stronghold vacated by the party's national president Nitin Nabin a couple of months ago, was accompanied by his wife, Jahnavi Das, a medical practitioner from Assam. Das, who generally stays away from the public eye, joined her husband as he filed his nomination for his political debut.

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The former election strategist and founder of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), who launched the Jan Suraaj Party around two years ago, reached the collectorate in a large procession that began at the busy Dak Bungalow crossing, around a kilometre away.

The BJP, meanwhile, fielded 32-year-old Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader Neeraj Kumar Sinha, whose nomination was backed by senior party leaders, including Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi.

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Sinha was drafted into the contest after the BJP's original candidate, Abhishek Kumar "Bunty", withdrew from the race despite filing his nomination papers last week. Bunty later cited "family reasons" for pulling out of the election.