Patna: Amid the Mahagathbandhan’s bruising performance in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, a relatively unknown ally has delivered one of the coalition’s few bright spots. Indrajeet Prasad Gupta — better known as I P Gupta — secured a crucial win from Saharsa for his fledgling India Inclusive Party (IIP), a result that has drawn attention both for its margin and for the political journey behind it.
Gupta defeated the BJP’s Alok Ranjan by 2,038 votes, polling 1,15,036 to Ranjan’s 1,12,998. Jan Suraaj trailed in third place. The IIP, which contested only three seats, managed to win one — outperforming several of the Mahagathbandhan’s established partners. The Congress, for instance, contested 61 seats but secured just six.
The IIP was launched in July 2023 by Gupta, a former Congress leader who has steadily built his public profile over the past two years. His breakthrough moment arrived in April 2025 when the party drew thousands to a rally at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan demanding a “separate quota” for the Tanti-Pan community, listed among the Extremely Backward Classes. The mobilisation signalled a growing undercurrent among weaving communities seeking firmer political representation.
Gupta’s own story mirrors this shift. Hailing from Patauna village in Jamui district, he is an engineer by training, holding an M.Tech degree, and has worked in the IT sector while running a business in Mumbai. His roots lie in the Tanti or weaver group, which he identifies as part of the broader Pan community — a constituency he has sought to politically consolidate.
His first electoral foray came in 2020, when he contested the SC-reserved Sikandra seat in Jamui. He finished far behind, securing just 5% of the vote, but the attempt marked his entry into electoral politics. He later joined the Congress, only to quit in April this year — nearly two years after floating the IIP.
Gupta’s victory in Saharsa, though slim, has given the Mahagathbandhan an unexpected morale boost and placed the IIP firmly on the state’s political map. With one seat and a rising base among EBC communities, the party’s next moves are likely to be watched closely as Bihar’s political landscape recalibrates after the election.
