Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani has declared political war on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), vowing to seek “revenge” for what he described as betrayal and poaching of his party MLAs. Speaking in Patna on Friday, Sahani accused the BJP of ousting him from the alliance after exploiting his party’s support to form the government.
“I will definitely seek revenge. We helped form the government, but they poached our MLAs and threw us out. This is not democracy,” Sahani said at an event commemorating Phoolan Devi’s death anniversary, also attended by Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly.
Attacking the BJP further, Sahani alleged that the party couldn’t tolerate the rise of a “poor fisherman’s son” in politics and deliberately removed him from the power equation. “They wanted to stop someone like me. But I won’t back down,” he asserted.
Now aligned with the Mahagathbandhan—an opposition alliance that includes RJD, Congress, and Left parties—Sahani announced his intention to contest 40 assembly seats in the upcoming elections. He boldly declared plans to “poach” BJP MLAs and return the favour.
“They stole from us. Now we will steal their MLAs and form the government. Our slogan is ‘Sarkar Banao, Adhikar Bano.’ We will not only form the government in Bihar but also in Delhi, working under the Constitution for everyone’s welfare,” he declared.
Sahani, who previously served as a Minister for Fisheries in the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, parted ways with the BJP in 2022. Soon after, several VIP MLAs defected to the BJP, weakening his party’s strength.
As Bihar’s political landscape heats up, the tug-of-war between the ruling NDA and opposition INDIA bloc is further intensified by the ongoing controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The opposition claims it could lead to mass voter deletions, while officials maintain the process is transparent.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar stated that forms from over 7.23 crore electors have been digitised, with the Draft Electoral Roll set for release on August 1.
