Declared deputy CM face, why Mukesh Sahani matters for Mahagathbandhan in Bihar

“I had been ready and waiting(p) for this mo for tercet and a half long years,” said a supercharged Mukesh Sahani, the Vikassheel Insaan company (VIP) chief, moments after being declared the deputy chief minister nominee of the Mahagathbandhan for the 2025 Bihar assembly election.Once a BJP ally, Sahani is now bestowed with the responsibility of steering the alliance's boat with RJD's Tejashwi Yadav at the helm. After the announcement on Thursday at a joint presser, Sahani took an oath that, “BJP ko jab tak hum todenge nahi, tab tak chhoddenge nahi. (We will not let go until we break the BJP)."He has accused the saffron party of “splitting” his party and “luring away” its MLAs.“BJP broke our party and poached our MLAs. At that time, we had pledged with Ganga jal in our hands. The time has come. Standing strong with Mahagathbandhan, we will form our government in Bihar and oust the BJP from the state,” he declared.Why Mukesh Sahani is importantBut how did the 44-year-old leader become such a crucial face in the Bihar polls? The reason lies in caste arithmetic and his strong grassroots hold.His party website describes him as the “Son of Mallah", noting that “his childhood was spent in extreme poverty, and from an early age, he witnessed the backwardness of the Nishad community up close.”Born on March 31, 1981, in state's Supaul district into a fisherman family, Sahani represents a community that forms about 2.5% of Bihar’s population – a small but politically influential group spread across several districts along the Ganga.Thus, his inclusion as the deputy CM face is a calculated effort by the Mahagathbandhan to strengthen its appeal among backward and marginalised communities.However, the deal was far from straightforward.According to sources cited by news agency PTI, the VIP nearly walked out of the Mahagathbandhan after expressing dissatisfaction with the seat-sharing arrangement. The party decided to stay on only after Rahul Gandhi intervened.While Sahani's electoral success has been modest, he is considered a leader with wide-reaching influence over voters across constituencies.The political journeySahani’s political journey has been marked by shifting alliances and unrelenting ambition.Mukesh Sahani first supported the BJP during the 2015 assembly polls, when he was publicly endorsed by Narendra Modi as a representative of the Nishad community.His disenchantment grew after the BJP failed to fulfil its promise of granting Scheduled Caste status to the Nishads. In response, he founded the Nishad Vikas Sangh in 2015 to mobilise his community and later launched the Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) in 2018.VIP initially joined Mahagathbandhan for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but failed to win any seats. In 2020, Sahani switched to the NDA and won four assembly seats, later serving as Bihar’s minister for animal husbandry and fisheries, before being dismissed in March 2022.A high-stakes contestThe 2025 Bihar assembly election, to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, will see a direct contest between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan, with Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party among the other contenders.Results will be declared on November 14.The NDA comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and Rashtriya Lok Morcha.The Mahagathbandhan, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), includes the Congress, CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI, CPM, and Sahani’s Vikasheel Insaan Party.Jan Suraaj Party has also announced it will field candidates on all 243 seats.