6 months ago
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For Vikassheel Insaan Party’s (VIP) Mukesh Sahani, beingness has travel afloat circle. Five years ago, helium had walked retired of a Mahagatbandhan property league alleging that the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) had “backstabbed” him. On Thursday (October 23, 2025), sharing the signifier with astir the aforesaid acceptable of leaders, helium was anointed the Opposition alliance’s Deputy Chief Ministerial face.
VIP’s electoral show since its enactment successful 2018 has been little than impressive. Currently, it has nary sitting legislator successful the Bihar Assembly. Mr. Sahani has mislaid 2 elections – 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Khagaria and 2020 Assembly predetermination from Simri Bakhtiyarpur. In a 243-seat assembly, VIP is contesting lone 15 seats.
Despite this, Mr. Sahani has earned a nationalist assurance from Mahagatbandhan that helium volition beryllium made Deputy Chief Minister if the confederation wins. The determination is aimed astatine mopping up each imaginable vote, particularly successful North Bihar, wherever the Mahagatbandhan had a dismal show successful 2020.
Bihar Assembly predetermination LIVE
Mr. Sahani commands power implicit the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) vote. EBCs – a disparate radical of castes – comprise a important 30% of Bihar’s voters. The Nishads, oregon the boatmen community, signifier astir 9.6% of the same, arsenic per the 2023 State caste survey, with the Mallah sub-caste among the Nishads, to which Mr. Sahani belongs, comprising 2.6% of the population. The determination could person an interaction connected different smaller communities specified arsenic Bind, Manjhi, Beldah, Kewat and Turha. These communities could beryllium decisive successful the Mithila, Koshi, and Champaran regions.
A schoolhouse dropout, Mr. Sahani studied till Class 8. At 19, helium near location to effort his luck successful the Hindi movie industry. After unusual jobs, helium managed to find his footing arsenic a acceptable designer. His institution Mukesh Cine World Private Limited, among galore films, boasts of projects similar Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Devdas (2002) and Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015).
The power from films to authorities did not travel easy. In 2010, helium founded the Sahani Samaj Kalyan Sanstha. Seeing the crowds helium was gathering, the BJP roped him successful arsenic a campaigner for the Assembly elections successful 2015. In July 2018, helium founded VIP.
In the Lok Sabha polls a twelvemonth later, the Mahagatbandhan offered the VIP 3 seats. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept Bihar and barring a lone Congress MP from Kishanganj, nary Mahagatbandhan campaigner could win.
On October 4, 2020, astatine a akin mounting arsenic Thursday’s property conference, RJD person and Mahagatbandhan’s Chief Ministerial look Tejashwi Yadav declared that the VIP would get seats from his ain party’s quota, without spelling retired the number. As soon arsenic Mr. Yadav finished speaking, the VIP supporters started raising slogans. Mr. Sahani was fixed the microphone to telephone for calm. Instead, helium dramatically declared that helium was “backstabbed”. At that time, 1 of his cardinal demands was the assurance of the Deputy Chief Minister’s position. He walked retired of the Mahagatbandhan to articulation the ruling NDA.
VIP won 4 of the 11 seats it contested nether the NDA, though Mr. Sahani failed to triumph the Simri-Bakhtiyarpur Assembly constituency. Despite the loss, helium was accommodated successful the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, successful which helium served arsenic Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries from November 16, 2020, to March 27, 2022. Three of the 4 VIP MLAs switched to BJP midway done the Assembly tenure. Lamenting the betrayal, Mr. Sahani returned to Mahagatbandhan successful April 2024.
