BJP spares 11 seats to associate partner VIP from its quota in Bihar polls

New Delhi: The BJP agreed on Wednesday to give 11 seats to the Vikashsheel Insan Party (VIP) from its share of 121 in the alliance with the Janata Dal (U) for the Bihar assembly elections. The BJP has also promised one MLC seat to the Mukesh Sahni-led party. Sahni had recently left the opposition alliance led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and was in discussion with the top leadership of the BJP to join the National Democratic Alliance.

The VIP was formed in 2018. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party had contested three seats as part of the opposition grand alliance, but couldn’t win any.

The BJP is trying to seal the most backward caste (MBC) votes in its favour by taking Sahni along. Sahni comes from the Nishad community in the MBCs, which forms around 7% of the Bihar voter populace. Though electorally Sahni has not performed yet, the BJP has been able to send a message just before the elections.


The reason for giving so much importance to Sahni is also the exit of Chirag Paswan’s LJP from the alliance. Paswans, a Dalit community, form around 6% of the state’s population. The NDA is looking at compensating the exit by whatever additional votes it could get through Sahni and the Hindustani Awam Morcha of Jitan Ram Manjhi.