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Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday declared Rekha Gupta its candidate for the by-election to Bankipur assembly seat in Bihar, bringing to an end the speculations of Mahagathbandhan offering support to Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor.

Announcement to the effect was made at a press conference, where state RJD president Mangani Lal Mandal claimed it was "the decision of the entire Mahagathbandhan" to field Gupta, who had earlier contested the seat on the party's ticket in last year's assembly polls.

"Rekha Kumari alias Rekha Gupta had contested the seat in the November, 2025 polls in which she had garnered close to 47,000 votes. Now, that the seat has fallen vacant upon the resignation of BJP national president Nitin Nabin, we have decided to field her again," Mandal said.

The RJD leader, who was speaking in the presence of top party colleagues, including principal national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui, national general secretary Bhola Yadav and national treasurer Sunil Kumar Singh, was also asked about rumours that ally Congress wanted to back Kishor as a joint candidate of the entire opposition on a seat that has been, for decades, a BJP bastion.

Mandal replied, "We have never heard anything of the sort from the Congress leadership. Rest assured that the candidature of Rekha Gupta enjoys the backing of all our allies. We have not laid claim to a seat where our partners were in the fight. Bankipur had been contested by the RJD the last time. So, we are again entering the fray." While the BJP is yet to announce its candidate for the bypoll, those who have so far thrown their hats in the ring include Kishor and local social activist Veena Manvi, who has been fielded by Janshakti Janata Dal of Tej Pratap Yadav, the estranged elder son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad. 

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)