PATNA, July 7 -- Amid speculations that Congress was keen on supporting Jan Suraaj party's Prashant Kishor from the Bankipur seat, major ally in the Mahagathbandhan, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday announced its candidate from the seat by declaring Rekha Gupta as its nominee. 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 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 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. The by-poll will be held on July 30 and counting will take place on August 3. The nomination process began Monday and last date of nomination is on July 13. Scrutiny of papers will take place on July 14. P3...