PATNA: A day after exiting the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) on Sunday announced that it will contest all 243 Assembly seats in the state.
Mukesh Sahni, founder and national president of the VIP, also declared that he will never be in a political alliance with RJD as long as Tejashwi Yadav was leading the party.
VIP had decided to walk out of the RJD-led Grand Alliance on Saturday after being denied seats in upcoming elections.
“Our party will announce the first list of candidates on October 5. We are speaking to Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP and Pappu Yadav-led JAP also,” Sahni said.
Sahni accused Tejashwi Yadav of conspiring against him and betraying his trust.
He added that the RJD was no longer Lalu Yadav’s party.
“Tejashwi also cheated us in the Lok Sabha elections at the last moment and we were compelled to contest from Khagaria Lok Sabha seat under a conspiracy,” he alleged.
Sahni said that the VIP always worked to strengthen the Grand Alliance but the RJD continued humiliating Dalit leaders in the alliance including Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha.
Sahni said that Tejashwi’s brother Tej Pratap Yadav is far better but is being sidelined by his younger sibling.
“When Tejashwi Yadav cannot be true to his elder brother, how can he be true to the youths of state? He is scared of all other young leaders like Kanhaiya Kumar of CPI and Chirag Paswan of LJP,” Sahni alleged. The VIP leader said, this time, he would choose partners on his terms and conditions.
However, the VIP may not put up candidates in those constituencies where extremely backward class (EBC) nominees will be fighting on “ruling party’s tickets”, he said.
On Saturday, Tejashwi Yadav had announced that RJD would contest on 144 seats while Congress was given 70 seats, the CPI(ML) 19, CPI (six) and four seats to the CPI(M).
It was said that RJD would be accommodating JMM and VIP from its own quota of constituencies.