New Delhi: The Assembly bypoll in Bihar, due on July 30, has been creating a stir for many reasons. The former Assembly seat of the new BJP President Nitin Nabin, who has won five times from here, and whose late father also won from here continuously from 1995, has become a BJP bastion in Patna city, with a predilection – and a record – for voting for the BJP.The sudden withdrawal of the BJP candidate, Abhishek Kumar Sinha, also from the Kayastha community, just three days after the announcement on July 7 has created a buzz about why he has suddenly opted out. By all appearances, the Sinha was a “serious candidate” and, accordingly, senior party leaders had lined up when he filed his nomination.So far, the media had praised him, counting his many qualities, some citing “party sources” to say that he was “one of the close associates of BJP National President Nitin Nabin”. He, too, was heard telling the media that he considered his nomination an honour and a responsibility, and had hit the streets running. He said he had begun meeting party workers and was seeking the blessings of senior leaders, supporters and the constituency’s people.But in a sudden volte face, Abhishek Sinha has read out a written statement citing “family reasons” to pull out of the contest.He has been replaced by Neeraj Kumar Sinha, who has been with the BJP since 2006 and has roots in the BJP Yuva Morcha.RJD candidate for the Bankipur, Bihar, assembly by-election, Rekha Gupta, on the campaign trail against Prashant Kishor and the BJP’s new candidate, Neeraj Kumar Sinha. (Screenshot from YouTube video)Speculation is rife on what may have prompted the change. The last date for filing nominations is Monday, July 13 and the bypoll date is July 30.By jumping into the fray, IPAC founder and political-strategist-turned-politician Jan Suraaj president Prashant Kishor had already made Bankipur a more than routine contest. Kishor has been sharp and personal in his unsparing criticism of the new Bihar chief minister, Samrat Choudhary, and he knows that two months after edging out Nitish Kumar, this election is a matter of prestige for him.It is also, conversely, an opportunity for Kishor to flex his muscles in the Opposition space in the state while the Rashtriya Janta Dal or RJD is appearing low-key and not very active.Kishor’s campaign around “education” and “health” yielded him no electoral fruit the last time and he lost his deposit in all the seats his party fought. But appeals to the Kayastha community are central to BJP’s victory in a post-Nabin scenario, for the community is seen as sympathetic to calls for better education prospects.Bankipur is an urban seat which, analysts say, may have betrayed a desire for change as the Nitin Nabin family is not in the fray and the candidate taking on the vocal Kishor should be seen as a very visible counter to him.The RJD has again thrown Rekha Gupta into the fray, its candidate from the last round of elections in 2025, and she had secured nearly 46,000 votes. Her pull in the community she hails from would help widen the RJD’s “M-Y” or Muslim-Yadav voter base and is the basis for the optimism of the RJD to make something of a fight in this otherwise difficult election.Supporters of rejected BJP candidate pelt stones on police, create chaosThe situation for the BJP was worse in the second of three seats where a by-election is due this month. In Datia, Madhya Pradesh, more than 3,000 BJP workers pelted stones on police, injuring three policemen, held up traffic in Datia town for 12 hours and tried to close the market after state leader and former minister Narottam Mishra was denied a ticket.Mishra, too, like Sinha in Bihar, had started his public engagement and even held a few rallies in the run-up to the surprise rejection of his candidature. Reports say that some BJP office-bearers, including the district unit president and local corporators, resigned from the party in protest over the rejection. Mishra’s supporters hit the streets immediately after Mishra was denied, staging a loud and raucous protest.The protests after BJP’s Narottam Mishra was denied the party’s ticket from Datia, Madha Pradesh, on July 10, 2026. (Screenshot from video shared on X.)In recent days, there had been much speculation that Mishra would secure the party’s nod to contest. However, the BJP fielded RSS-backed Ashutosh Tiwari, again keeping the caste equation undisturbed while picking from potential candidates.Mishra had lost to Congress’s Rajendra Bharti in the 2023 assembly polls and won with a narrow margin in the 2018 election. Bharti’s membership of the assembly was cancelled following a 2006 conviction, in which the order refusing him relief from the high court of Delhi arrived on July 10.But a member of Bharti’s family is rumoured to be the Congress candidate, which may have prompted the BJP to keep Mishra outside the race. There were also reported claims from within the party that Mishra, as a former state minister, would have expected a Cabinet berth on victory, unsettling the existing senior leaders of the BJP.