Patna (Bihar) [India], July 26 : Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani has vowed to "seek revenge" against his former alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, alleging that he was cheated after the party "poached" his MLAs and threw him out of the alliance.
"I will definitely seek revenge. We were servants for so long, we worked hard in the state to get elected and worked for our people by staying in the government. We had 4 leaders and were doing the work of the people, so they (BJP) poached our MLAs and threw us out of the government we formed. This is not right in a democracy," the VIP founder told reporters in Patna on Friday.
Sahni's remarks were made on July 25 (Friday) during a program remembering Phoolan Devi on her death anniversary. The program was attended by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Bihar's Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, too.
Hitting out at the BJP further, Sahani said that the party could not handle a poor fisherman's son coming into politics, and decided to stop him.
"They saw that a poor fisherman's son had come to politics and needed to be stopped. They threw us out of the government when we made the government possible in the first place. The government would not have been formed had we not given support," he alleged.
The VIP led by Sahani is currently part of the 'mahagathbandan' in the opposition, comprising RJD, Congress, and multiple left parties.
The VIP founder said he will put up 40 candidates for the assembly elections and form government to work for the welfare of the people. He said that just like the BJP poached his MLAs, he will do the same to the party.
"I have pledged that we will now have 40 MLAs instead of the earlier 4 and now we will poach their MLAs and form government. The ones who stole from us earlier, we will steal their MLAs now and form the government, we are working for that. Our slogan is 'Sarkar banao adhikar bano,' we will form government in Bihar and Delhi, and being with the Constitution work for the welfare of all people," Sahani said.
Earlier in 2022, VIP broke away from an alliance with the BJP. Sahani was a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) and the minister of the fisheries in the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led cabinet.
Shortly after Sahani joined the grand alliance, MLAs and VIP party leaders, Raju Singh, Swarna Singh, Misri Lal Yadav left the party and joined the BJP. Raju Singh has also been a state minister after joining the party too.
Meanwhile, the political battle between the ruling NDA and opposition Mahagathbandhan has intensified in the state and at the Centre, months ahead of the elections, on the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls.
The SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar has erupted a massive row in the country, with the opposition INDIA bloc alleging that it will delete a significant chunk of voters.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar has confirmed that forms of over 7.23 crore electors have been received and digitised, with their names set to be included in the Draft Electoral Roll, scheduled for release on August 1.