With Lok Sabha election only a few months away, the Jan Adhikar Party Loktantrik (JAPL) led by Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani, popularly known as ‘Son of Mallah’, are increasingly finding themselves isolated.
Both parties have a certain vote bank in the Yadav and Mallah (fisherfolk) communities but neither the ruling Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) nor NDA are interested in accommodating them.
In all likelihood, Mr. Yadav and Mr. Sahani could play the role of ‘vote katuwa’ (vote-splitters) in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. At present, both are touring the State to meet voters and have been claiming that none can form the government without their support. Mr. Sahani had gone one step further by extending his ‘Nishad Sankalp Yatra’ to Uttar Pradesh as well.
Mr. Sahani is banking on his base among Mallahs – an Economically Backward Class (EBC) community - who are in sizable numbers in about four Lok Sabha seats of Mithila (Darbhanga and Madhubani constituencies) and Tirhut (Muzaffapur and Sitamarhi) regions in north Bihar. Similarly, Mr. Yadav has a support base in Seemanchal and Kosi regions which consist of Araria, Katihar, Purnia, Supaul, Saharsa and Madhepura.
Mr. Yadav had recently met Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad at former Chief Minister Rabri Devi residence with a request to join the ruling Mahagathbandhan. He has been pushing his case through the Congress because his wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Rajya Sabha member from the party.
However, sources say Tejashwi Yadav, Mr. Prasad’s younger son and Deputy Chief Minister who is calling the shots in the party, had expressed strong reservation on Mr. Yadav joining the alliance. Sources said Mr. Tejashwi may not want any other Yadav leader to hog the electoral limelight. Mr. Yadav, a five-time parliamentarian, was earlier expelled from the RJD in 2015 for anti-party activities. Since then, his doors to Mahagathbandhan have remained closed.
In 2014, Mr. Yadav had secured victory in the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat but lost against Janata Dal (United) candidate Dinesh Chandra Yadav in 2019. In 2020 Assembly election, he formed the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) with Chandrashekar Azad Ravan’s Azad Samaj Party (ASP) and a few others. However, PDA could not win a single seat and Mr. Yadav was defeated by RJD candidate Chandra Shekhar.
“I have urged the leaders of grand alliance to make me a partner but so far nothing has happened. Kosi and Seemanchal are my Karmbhumi [place of one’s destiny] and I will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election with all my effort in this region,” Mr. Yadav said.
Similarly, Mr. Sahani whose Nishad Sankalp Yatra is under way in Sultanpur of Uttar Pradesh, claims that he can make an impact in over 80 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
“I will make a decision on alliance only after the Nishad community gets their reservation. Whoever will meet our demand, I will go with them. At present it’s too early to say anything on alliance. I will keep on raising the voice of the Nishad community as the community is being discriminated against,” Mr. Sahani said.
Mr. Sahani is no stranger to switching sides. He has joined the alliances led by current Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (United) and Mr. Prasad in the past but joined the NDA before the 2020 Assembly election. His party, the VIP, got to contest 11 seats out of which it won four. However, relations with the BJP soured and in November 2021, a party MLA from Bochaha died and the rest joined BJP. Mr. Saini, an MLC who was in the Cabinet at the time, was also removed as Minister by Mr. Kumar who was then leading the ruling alliance with the BJP.
However, there is little doubt that in a short span of time, Mr. Sahani has established himself as leader among Mallahs who constitute about 8% of Bihar’s population.
The BJP already has a partner from the community in the form of Sanjay Nishad in Uttar Pradesh and by undertaking a yatra in the State, Mr. Sahani is perhaps trying to get noticed by BJP and grab a chance to contest in the Lok Sabha election with BJP’s support. However, as things stand now, the fate of Mr. Yadav and Mr. Sahani hangs in balance.
