After breaking away from the RJD-led alliance, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) joined the NDA alliance as the fourth partner. The BJP has given 11 seats out of its own quota for Mukesh Sahani’s party, and even promised him a seat in the state vidhan parishad.
Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has already been allotted six seats out of the ruling JDU’s quota. Both the BJP and the JDU had announced seat sharing arrangement on Tuesday. The JDU would contest on 122 seats, thus retaining a perceived status of a bigger party than the BJP which will contest on 121 seats.
Sahani, who calls himself son of mallah, belong to the extremely backward caste, nishad, in the state. He is also a Bollywood set designer who had launched a political outfit in 2018. He was part of the RJD alliance but broke ranks when seats were not announced for his party, and instead told that RJD would allot seats from their quota of 144 seats.
“The way the RJD gave seats to four new parties instead of us, an old ally we decided to quit the same day. They ignored the extremely backward castes. They broke our trust and stabbed a son of mallah in the back,” Sahani said as he addressed a joint press conference along with the Bihar BJP leaders.
Sahani was all praise for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying that the former has done a lot for the state in the last 15 years.
The entry of VIP party into the NDA fold will help the alliance tide over the loss of the Lok Jan Shakti party which represented the dalit community.
“This all happened in two days. We didn’t even know this could happen. We have included him in the alliance and give him 11 seats, and even one MLC seat,” Sanjay Jaiswal, Bihar BJP chief said.
The senior BJP leaders present there including Devendra Fadnavis, Sushil Modi made it clear that LJP which broke ranks with them was not part of it in anyway, and there should be no confusion about.
Jaiswal warned that LJP cannot use the name or picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their campaign material otherwise legal action would be taken. “Prime Minister Modi is our star campaigner, and no one else can use his name.”
The LJP's decision to contest alone, and that too against Nitish Kumar, has led to confusion and speculation within the state. Within two days, two senior BJP leaders joined LJP, and are expected to contest elections. A day after senior BJP leader Rajendra Singh joined LJP in presence of Chirag Paswan, another former BJP MLA Usha Vidhayarthi joined. More leaders who are not getting tickets in the BJP may join LJP.
Though the BJP has warned the leaders who were joining LJP will be expelled, it has led to speculation that once they contest from LJP against JDU, they will carry the BJP votebank with them. If they go on to win the elections, it would reduce JDU’s stature in the state. In post poll scenario, if JDU gets far less numbers then it may queer the pitch for a BJP CM in the state.
