New Delhi: Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani, who was declared the deputy chief ministerial candidate of the Mahagathbandhan, failed to live up to expectations as his party failed to win even one of the 15 seats it contested.
The VIP founder comes from the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) community of the Mallahs, who constitute 2.66 per cent of the Bihar population. The Mahagatbandhan brought him in its camp with the hope of denting the EBC votebank of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Born in Bihar’s Darbhanga, Sahani left Bihar at the age of 19 and moved to Mumbai, where he worked in the Hindi film industry and eventually became a set designer. His political journey began in 2010 when he formed the Sahani Samaj Kalyan Sanstha to work for his community.
In 2015, he campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but later went on to launch the VIP three years later.
The VIP joined the Mahagathbandhan in the 2019 general elections, contesting three Lok Sabha seats but failing to win any. Soon after, Sahani switched sides, dramatically walking out of a Tejashwi Yadav press conference in October 2020 and joining the NDA just before the polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allotted him 11 seats to contest. The VIP won four of them but Sahani himself lost in the elections.
The BJP later made him a minister and nominated him to the Legislative Council so he could stay in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet. But in March 2022, he was sacked from the Cabinet after the BJP objected to him fielding candidates in Uttar Pradesh. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Sahani once again changed sides and joined the INDIA bloc.
This year, Sahani made a hue and cry over his demand of 24 seats but later settled for 15 seats only. It was in this period that the word spread of a rift in the Mahagathbandhan. However, the VIP denied any such crack within the opposition alliance. Sahani released a video urging his supporters to back the Mahagathbandhan candidates to quell rumours of discontent.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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