Patna (Bihar): Vikasshil Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni is all set to host a party for crucial leaders and the fisher community on Monday with a slogan “Maach bhaat khayenge aur mahagathabandhan ko jeetayenge” (We will eat fish and rice and make sure that the Mahagathbandhan wins”).
Sahni has recently joined the grand alliance in the presence of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Tejaswi Yadav. The party will be organised at the Miller High School, Patna.
As per sources, around 500 Mallah will join the party. The Mallah are the aboriginal traditional fishermen and boatmen tribes whose occupation is centred on rivers.
While joining the grand alliance, Sahani, who was declared as the ‘son of Mallah’, pledged to unite the backward Nishads into a force that cannot be ignored, claiming that the BJP had failed to fulfill its promises. “We supported BJP but it gave us nothing. Now, we will help Mahagathabandhan to win,” he said on the occasion.
Welcoming Sahni in the grand alliance fold, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav said, “I would like to welcome Mukesh Sahni, son of Mallah, to our grand alliance, and I believe that him joining the grand alliance will strengthen it. The way the atmosphere of emergency has been created in the country and the public mandate has been insulted in Bihar, I am confident that in upcoming elections grand alliance will register a big win.”
While the RJD, which emerged as the largest party in the last Bihar Assembly elections with 81 MLAs, is claiming tickets for 20 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress is not ready to compromise, sources said.
A Congress source said, “We are strong at the national level now, considering the way we performed in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. So why should we compromise.”
RLSP, which recently quit NDA, will also have to be given some seats if it contests along with the ‘grand alliance’.
BJP president Amit Shah had announced that his party would contest on 17 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, while an equal number of seats will go to the Janata Dal-United. Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP will contest on six seats.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]