India, July 31 -- A low voter turnout of over 34 per cent was registered on Thursday in the by-poll to Bihar's Bankipur assembly seat where Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who was making his electoral debut, challenged decades of BJP dominance.

The electoral fate of 26 candidates, including the BJP's Neeraj Kumar Sinha and Rekha Gupta of the RJD, will be decided on August 3.

According to the ECI, the voter turnout stood at only 34.24 per cent, a drop of more than seven per cent compared with 41.45 per cent in the Assembly polls of November last year.

The voter participation flew in the face of political heat on the polling day, generated by trading of charges between Kishor and the BJP.

The BJP is hoping to retain the seat v...