Goa, Aug. 3 -- Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor moved closer to securing victory in the Bankipur Assembly by-election on Monday, extending his lead over BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha as counting of votes entered its final stages.

The political strategist-turned-politician, making his electoral debut, maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the counting process. After the 28th of the scheduled 31 rounds, Kishor had polled 59,213 votes, leading BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha by 19,419 votes. Sinha had secured 39,794 votes, while RJD candidate Rekha Kumari remained a distant third with 13,260 votes.

Earlier in the day, Kishor had crossed the 38,000-vote mark while Sinha had polled around 26,000 votes, with the lead steadily increa...