PATNA: The NDA in Bihar is in turmoil. BJP has announced it will contest the by-election from Bochaha Assembly constituency earlier held by its ally Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani.
BJP announced former MLA Baby Kumari’s name as its official candidate. Voting will be held on April 12. Baby had earlier won from the seat as an Independent in 2015 and later lent her support to the saffron party.
In 2020, the seat went to VIP under the seat-sharing agreement among the four constituents of the NDA. Musafir Paswan had emerged the winner. The seat fell vacant after his death last November.
Soon after the BJP announcement, Sahani tweeted, “Thanks for this Holi gift”. He got support from another NDA ally — Hindustan Awami Morcha (HAM). HAM spokesperson Danish Rizwan said, “It is a wrong precedent in the coalition. The seat was earlier held by VIP and it should have been maintained by the coalition partner.”
The Bochaha by-poll has become a bone of contention between BJP and VIP, especially after the Uttar Pradesh election. Sahani’s decision to contest the election in Uttar Pradesh and fielding candidates against BJP nominees in 53 constituencies had irked top leaders of the BJP.
Sahani is a minister in the NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. What irked BJP the most was the VIP supremo’s outburst against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Moreover, Sahani exhorted his supporters to vote against BJP to ensure the defeat of Adityanath.
The VIP, however, failed to win a single seat. Demands of dropping Sahani from the state cabinet grew louder after the UP election results were announced on March 10. Sahani had earlier expressed his intention to field a candidate from Bochana. “We will not bow to the pressure.”