Patna: Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni on Friday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, declaring that his party would “snatch 40 seats in exchange for four” in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Speaking at Bapu Auditorium on the occasion of Veerangana Phoolan Devi’s martyrdom day, Mukesh said, “They took away four of our MLAs, now we will snatch 40. This is a fight to take back our honour.”
A large number of people gathered to pay tribute to Phoolan Devi, as Sahni pledged to carry forward her legacy of justice for women and marginalised communities. Recalling Phoolan Devi’s courage in a casteist and male-dominated society, Mukesh said, “Women are not just made to wear bangles. If injustice is done to them, they know how to take revenge.”
The VIP chief questioned why the Nishad community is denied reservation in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand despite similar provisions in other states. “The Nishad community is no longer just a community of fishermen, it can also run the government,” he said, urging voters to bring change with the power of their vote.
Promising that if the Mahagathbandhan forms the government, a backward Nishad would become Deputy Chief Minister, Mukesh asserted that only a government of the poor will work for the poor.
Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav also addressed the gathering, criticising Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for failing to curb unemployment, inflation, poverty and migration in his 20 years of rule. “The farmers are suffering, the youth remain jobless, and Bihar is lagging behind in development. Change this 20-year-old government and give the grand alliance a chance,” Tejaswi urged.
He added that unlike the current government, the Mahagathbandhan has a clear vision and roadmap to make Bihar a developed state.
