NEW DELHI: In a setback to Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor ahead of the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, several party leaders, including candidates who contested the 2025 Bihar assembly elections on the party’s ticket, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday.The leaders who joined the BJP included renowned mathematician KC Sinha, Ritesh Ranjan alias Bittu Singh, Gopal Singh and Jan Suraaj Kisan Morcha district president Braj Kishore Sinha.KC Sinha had contested from Kumhrar, Ritesh Ranjan alias Bittu Singh from Digha and Gopal Singh from Maner in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections as Jan Suraaj candidates.The development comes ahead of the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, scheduled for July 30, where Prashant Kishor is contesting against BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha.Welcoming the new entrants, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi said the party was attracting leaders from across the political spectrum because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.“Inspired by the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, there has been a rush among politicians of opposition parties across the country to join the saffron party. People from all over the country want to join it,” Saraogi told reporters.He said the new entrants would strengthen the BJP organisation in the state.KC Sinha said he joined the BJP to contribute to India’s development through education.“In the current situation, national interest is paramount. Amid the clouds of war hovering across the world, the hands of the central government need to be strengthened so that India’s voice can resonate globally. India had once led the world as a Vishwaguru and must regain that position, especially through excellence in education,” he said.Ritesh Ranjan Singh apologised for joining Jan Suraaj and reaffirmed his commitment to the BJP.“I just want to say that one should never act in the heat of the moment. Whatever I did, I apologise for that. ‘Jeena yahan, marna yahan, iske siwa jana kahan’,” he said, quoting a popular Hindi film song.Calling his induction into the BJP a ‘homecoming’, Gopal Singh said he had earlier worked with the party in the 1990s.“When I contested on a Jan Suraaj ticket from Maner last year, I realised there was no vision there, only hollow talk. Above all, an arrogant person can never run an organisation. That is why we have returned to our home,” he said.The Bankipur bypoll was necessitated after BJP leader and former state minister Nitin Nabin resigned from the assembly seat following his elevation as the party’s national president.Prashant Kishor, a former election strategist who founded Jan Suraaj after ending his political consultancy career, is contesting his first-ever election from the BJP stronghold.In his nomination affidavit, he declared movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 96 crore. The affidavit also stated that he holds a 100 per cent controlling stake in a private company that donated Rs 85 crore to the Jan Suraaj Party and Rs 50 lakh to the Jan Suraaj Foundation during the 2024-25 financial year.According to the affidavit, Kishor has eight pending criminal cases but has not been convicted in any of them.The Bankipur assembly bypoll will be held on July 30, while the counting of votes is scheduled for August 3.