Bihar-based ‘VIP’ may exit from NDA soon

New Delhi: The smaller alliance partners in the Bihar government like Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Bihar cabinet minister Mukesh Sahani could be forced to leave the state government as they are openly speaking and working against the interests of larger parties. Sources of major ruling parties in Bihar like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal United have confirmed to The Sunday Guardian that the days of smaller partners like the VIP party in the alliance are numbered and there is no question mark on the longevity of the government as most of the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from these parties have no commitment with the party bosses and are directly in touch with BJP and JDU leadership in the state.
It is said that the BJP leadership is not happy with the recent outburst by Mukesh Sahani-led VIP where he openly criticized the BJP, is fighting the Uttar Pradesh election and inducting turncoats from the saffron party. One Bihar BJP leader said, “Mukesh Sahani is not a leader who should be taken seriously. Sahani had lost both the 2019 Lok sabha polls and the 2020 Assembly polls, still we made him an MLC and then minister. We had given him 11 seats from our quota of seats in the Bihar assembly polls. All his three MLAs are in constant touch with our state leadership. They are willing to leave the party and join us, and then the party will be forced to leave the alliance”.
The other bone of contention between the BJP and the VIP party is the coming Bochaha by-election in Bihar, as the seat fell vacant after sitting VIP lawmaker Paswan passed away on 25 November last year. The BJP is eyeing the seat. Experts believe that Mukesh Sahani might not jump ship in the near future as the parliamentary elections are two years away. Talking to The Sunday Guardian, Vinay Choudhary, a political analyst who is closely following the developments, said, “Mukesh Sahani is trying to build pressure on the NDA government. He has big ambitions to emerge as a tall EBC leader of North India, that’s why he is testing his luck in Uttar Pradesh also. But, he himself understands the reality. The electoral base of the party had not increased in the last three-four years despite his attempts. NDA is his best bet as of now. It is also true that both the BJP and the JDU will not allow the VIP or the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) led by former chief minister Jitanram Manjhi to grow. Even in the local bodies Legislative Council polls, they have not been given seats,”.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls, the ruling BJP won 74 Assembly seats, the JDU won 43 seats, while VIP and the HAM emerged victorious on four seats each. Presently the NDA had the support of 126 MLAs in the state Assembly. Talking to The Sunday Guardian, Neeraj Kumar, chief spokesperson of the JDU, who is a three-term Member of Bihar Legislative Council, said, “Mukesh Sahani is very much in the Bihar NDA.”