The impasse over seat sharing in the Bihar Grand Alliance has finally ended. Mukesh Sahni-led VIP has been awarded 15 assembly seats in the alliance. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has subsequently assured VIP of one Rajya Sabha seat and two Legislative Council (MLC) seats.
Patna: The seat sharing issue for Mukesh Sahni’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in the Bihar Grand Alliance has finally been resolved. VIP has been awarded 15 assembly seats in the alliance. To compensate for the reduced number of seats, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has subsequently assured VIP of one Rajya Sabha seat and two Legislative Council (MLC) seats.
VIP candidates announced
Immediately after the seat sharing agreement was reached, VIP announced its candidates for two seats late last night. Party chief Mukesh Sahni himself will contest from the Gauda Bauram seat in Darbhanga district, while VIP state president Bal Govind Bind will contest from the Bhabua assembly seat. Both candidates will file their nomination papers on Friday. Today is the last day for nominations for the first phase.
Deadlock and Reconciliation in Seat-Sharing
Mukesh Sahni was adamant on more seats, which prevented the Grand Alliance from finalizing the seat-sharing formula. On Wednesday, Sahni called a press conference, which was later postponed several times. Finally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mediated the matter and spoke with Mukesh Sahni over the phone, leading to an agreement. After the seats were finalized, VIP handed over the symbol to its other candidates on Friday morning on behalf of Mukesh Sahni.
The Importance of the Gauda Bauram Seat
Mukesh Sahni will file his nomination from the Gauda Bauram seat, which will be held in the first phase of voting. In 2020, the VIP won this seat, but its MLA, Swarna Singh, later joined the BJP. This time, the BJP has cut Swarna Singh’s ticket and fielded Sujit Kumar Singh.
Curated by: Ravi Sinha
About the Author
Ravi Prakash Sinha is a senior journalist (Principal Digital Content Producer) at Navbharat Times Online. He has 25 years of experience in current affairs, Jharkhand-Bihar politics, and ground reporting. Ravi Sinha has been working with NBT (Digital) for the last three years. He had the opportunity to work as the Jharkhand representative at Rajasthan Patrika from December 2005 to April 2020. He also spent 17 years as a casual assistant editor at the regional news section of Doordarshan Ranchi and All India Radio.
Courtesy: Hindi News