Bankipur assembly by-election: Prashant Kishor and his wife declare total assets of over ₹208 crore

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha and Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kisore filed their nominations for the Bankipur assembly by-election on Monday, July 13, 2026. Senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Bihar BJP President Sanjay Saraogi, participated in the nomination.

The seat fell vacant after Nitin Nabin was elected to the Rajya Sabha. On Friday, July 10, the BJP nominated Mr. Sinha as its candidate after Abhishek Kumar alias Bunty withdrew his candidacy.

Other leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) who were present during the nomination included Janata Dal (United) State President Umesh Singh Kushwaha, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) State President Raju Tiwari, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) State President Anil Kumar and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) State President Alok Kumar.

According to the affidavit filed before the Election Commission of India (ECI), the total movable asset value of Mr. Kishor and his wife Jahanvi Das is ₹ 1,217,142,225, of which ₹ 22,19,74,976 belongs to Mr. Kishor and the remaining ₹ 99,51,67,249 belongs to his wife. Ms. Das has 475 grams of gold worth ₹64,12,500 and 200 grams of silver with a total value of ₹46,000. His wife is Senior Consultant, MBBS and Special Projects at Apollo Indraprastha Hospital, New Delhi. His 16-year-old son Daibik Bhardwaj has movable assets worth ₹7,19,281.

Mr Kishor, a poll strategist and politician, has immovable assets with a current market value of ₹73.87 crore and his wife also has immovable assets worth ₹12.42 crore. In the affidavit, he also showed that his total debt was ₹ 5.77 crore, while his wife owed ₹ 55.38 lakh. Total movable and immovable assets are ₹208,00,42,225.

It holds 100% controlling stake in Vedhas Ventures Private Limited, which has donated ₹ 85 crore to Jan Suraaj Party and ₹ 50 lakh to Jan Suraaj Foundation in 2024-25 and ₹ 2.75 crore to Joy of Giving Global Foundation in 2023-24.

The highest educational qualification is Master’s degree in 2001-2003 – Master of Health Administration (MHA), Administrative Staff, College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad. He also ran the Specialized Health Program developed in collaboration with John Hopkins University and Hinduja Hospital in the USA.

He also holds an Intensive French Language Course diploma from CAVILAM VICHY, CLERMONT FERRAND University in France. Mr. Kishor has eight criminal cases pending against him, most of them related to illegal meetings; but he was not convicted in any of the cases.

Till the submission of this report, the BJP candidate’s statement had not been uploaded on the ECI website. Before being nominated, both the candidates took a promotional tour up to Patna Collection. Today was the last day to apply for candidacy. Voting will be held on July 30, and the counting of votes will be done on August 3.

Meanwhile, Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) candidate Vina Mandavi, belonging to Tej Pratap Yadav’s party, was arrested by Patna police soon after she filed her nomination in connection with an old case filed against her.