Hours into the counting of votes to determine a winning coalition in the Bihar Assembly elections, Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) appears to have fared poorly, as it managed to lead in just one seat, as per the Election Commission.
This is a major blow for the Mahagathbandhan, which had fielded Sahani's party in 15 seats. The grand alliance's chief ministerial face and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav had even promised him the position of Deputy CM in his cabinet if the grand alliance won in the elections.
Yadav had also dismissed earlier exit polls, which had predicted that the VIP, in addition to the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party (JSP), would not even open their accounts in Bihar.
An analyst claims that Yadav's promise to nominate Sahani as Bihar's Deputy CM also caused resentment amongst Muslims—one half of the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) constituencies that the RJD relies on.
As a result, in some seats, Muslims shifted their votes from the RJD to either NDA constituents, or to parties like AIMIM and the JSP, hurting RJD's vote base.
(More details are awaited.)
