Bochahan bypoll: What BJP did to me, voters did to them: Sahni

The former animal husbandry minister of Bihar also mocked BJP for having sent ministers, MPs and legislators to Bochahan

The Bochahan assembly bypoll result in Bihar has become a talking point, not just because it was a direct fight between the ruling BJP and the opposition RJD, but also because it was yet another test of the political waters in a state that has continued to witness churning since the close race in the 2020 assembly elections.

VIP president Mukesh Sahni at a a press conference in Patna on Saturday. (HT)

Days before the bypoll, an overconfident BJP gulped down its own ally, the VIP (Vikassheel Insaan Party), to surpass RJD as the largest party in the state. All three sitting MLAs of VIP joined BJP last month, leaving their party founder Mukesh Sahni fretting and fuming.

Though VIP has finished third, it put up a strong fight, polling nearly 30,000 votes and ensuring that BJP lost to RJD by a huge margin.

“I have done much better than BJP. Last time, the VIP candidate had won by over 12,000 votes. This time, BJP has lost by over 35,000 votes. VIP has got the people’s support once again to resurrect its fortunes and that we will, but it is high time the BJP central leadership does an analysis to realise how the local leaders try to mislead by feeding wrong info to them. This way BJP will have more setbacks in 2024 and 2025,” said Sahni, who lost his ministerial berth in Bihar government last month.

Sahni said VIP getting close go 30,000 votes (18%) on its own was a testimony to the fact the party was no more confined to just 12% votes of Nishad (fishermen) community. “Nishads have a voting capacity of 7-8%, but here VIP getting 18% votes means support of other extremely backward communities (EBCs) also. We will work on strengthening our organisation as there are no elections in future,” Sahni said, while ruling out possibility of joining any political party too soon.

The former animal husbandry minister of Bihar also mocked BJP for having sent ministers, MPs and legislators to Bochahan in what was to be a direct fight with RJD. “What BJP did with me, Bochahan voters did with them. We are a small party, but we have to grow and we are not ready to be subjugated or be at others’ beck and call,” he said.

Muzaffarpur, the district in which Bochahan assembly seat is located, has always been a BJP stronghold and its defeat has certainly left a lot to ponder. “It may have far-reaching consequences. After the recent Legislative Council elections, which saw RJD improve its tally, Bochahan may give an indication of people’s changing perception. How far it will go, only time will tell, as Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are still far away, but a new trend is certainly emerging. There could be more to the result than meets the eye, as it may also put a thaw on BJP’s growing assertiveness in the state for the time being,” said DM Diwakar, former director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies.