Ahead Of Bihar Election, The Political Significance Of Mukesh Sahani

In the vibrant tapestry of Bihar's political landscape, where caste and community often intertwine to shape electoral fortunes, the role of 44-year-old Mukesh Sahani stands as a compelling narrative, one that blends aspiration with strategy.

Sahani, the leader of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), embodies the hopes of the Mallah, Sahani, and Nishad communities, whose nine per cent electoral weight (according to the 2023 Bihar caste survey) could tilt the balance in an already complex political arena.

As the Mahagathbandhan prepares to offer him 15 seats, Sahani's insistence on demanding at least 24 reflects not just a negotiation for power, but a deeper quest for recognition and representation of the fishermen and boatmen communities in Bihar.

Does Sahani punch above his weight?

A man who transitioned from Bollywood to politics, he has embodied the hopes of the Mallah community. However, in the ever-shifting landscape of Bihar politics, the narrative of Mukesh Sahani unfolds like a dramatic screenplay peppered with ambition, betrayal, and the quest for power.

Sahani resembles the Shakespearean character Macbeth, whose unchecked and audacious ambition leads to his downfall; Sahani's meteoric rise has been punctuated by strategic missteps that have left his political future hanging in the balance.

Once heralded as a rising star, he now finds himself at a crossroads.

Dismissed in 2022 from the Bihar cabinet (Sahani was the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister) by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for vituperative attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Sahani seems to have limited options today - either remain as a unit of Mahagathbandhan, or contest alone with some other smaller grouping and most likely end up in political oblivion.

What is behind Sahani's political heft?

The Mallah community is spread across Bihar but holds significant electoral influence in certain districts and constituencies, particularly in north Bihar.

They have a significant population in Mithilanchal and Seemanchal.

Drive northwards from Patna, and you may witness the dominant nature of the Mallahs. As soon as you cross the Holy Ganges, the Mallah community is a crucial vote bank in Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, and Madhubani. Move eastwards towards Seemanchal and you come in contact with a massive population of Mallahs in Khagaria, Araria, Purnea, and Katihar.

The terms Mallah, Nishad and Sahani are often used interchangeably or to refer to sub-groups of the larger riverine fishing and boatmen communities in Bihar.

The Mallah community is a sub-caste of the larger Nishad community.

For example, Sahani is known as "son of Mallah", but his party VIP appeals to the broader Nishad community. The Nishad community includes many sub-castes, such as the Bind, Beldar, and Kewat. Therefore, the nine per cent figure for Nishads is an umbrella total that includes the Mallah and Sahani populations.

The Sahani-Nishad-Mallah communities are what sociologists term a 'caste association' (like ' Baniyas') and are considered a part of the Extremely Backwards Class (EBC) category in Bihar, which accounts for 36.01 per cent of the state's total population.

Brief historical background

In the past, Muzaffarpur has elected its MPs from the Mallah community, including Ajay Nishad, MP from the BJP. Ajay Nishad is the son of an earlier MP from Muzaffarpur, the extremely popular Captain Jainarain Nishad (1930-2018). Before being elected an MP, he was an entrepreneur, one of the earliest dealers of cooking gas in Muzaffarpur.

Before the Nishads, father and son, Ramkaran Sahni, a landed Mallah of Mushahari (Muzaffarpur), was a leader and legislator patronised by former Chief Minister and 'Jannayak' Karpoori Thakur in Bihar politics.

The Nishad Samanway Samiti, an umbrella organisation of different sub-castes identifying with the Mallahs and Sahanis, and one of its constituents, the Ved Vyas Parishad, made news in early September 2015 when it strongly rejected Nitish Kumar's proposal to include the community in the list of Scheduled Tribes, which offers a reservation of one per cent in public employment in Bihar.

The Nishad Samanway Samiti wanted the community to be included among the Scheduled Castes for whom there exists 16 per cent reservation in public employment as well as in legislative bodies. As of now, the Mallahs-Nishads-Sahanis belong to the Ati Pichhda (Extremely Backward Community).

Sahani's 'aaya Ram, gaya Ram' style of politics

Sahani was made a minister in the Nitish Kumar government on the recommendation of the BJP, despite having lost his seat in the Bihar Assembly poll in 2020.

Sahani was a young man in a hurry to expand his political base outside Bihar.

Despite having no ground support in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Sahani fielded over 50 candidates in that state's Assembly election in 2022. All of them lost and quite a few lost their deposits. Sahani's relentless demand for the unseating of the Adityanath government in UP turned the BJP against him.

Sahani also fielded seven candidates against the BJP in the April 4 Bihar MLC polls for 24 seats.

The BJP had hit back by fielding a candidate for the Bochaha Assembly by poll, which had been necessitated by the death of incumbent MLA Musafir Paswan of Sahani's party.

That the BJP was unforgiving of Sahani became clear on March 23 when all three Bihar MLAs of VIP - Raju Kumar Singh (Sahebganj), Misri Lal Yadav (Alinagar) and Swarna Singh (Gaura Bouram) - were accommodated by the BJP.

This left Sahani without any MLA in the Bihar assembly.

Yet Sahani remained defiant. He refused to quit the Bihar cabinet and claimed that his party's contribution in helping the BJP win 74 seats in the 2020 state election couldn't be undermined.

The curious case of Sahani

Sahani has not won a single election in his life, but he has had a meteoric rise in Bihar politics.

He was first seen campaigning for the BJP in the 2015 election before switching to the RJD camp ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. His party lost all three seats it contested.

A year on, Sahani made a dramatic switch, storming out of Tejashwi Yadav's press conference in October 2020 to join the NDA just a month before the Assembly poll. The BJP gave VIP 11 seats to contest from its NDA quota. The VIP won four seats, though Sahani lost his own election.

The BJP made Sahani a minister and also sent him to the legislative council to enable him to continue in the Nitish cabinet. Given his unsteady record, the party gave him an MLC berth with tenure up to only July 2022.

Since then, Sahani has been trying to cosy up to the Mahagathbandhan.

The caste calculus of Bihar politics

Bihar's political theatre is a spectacle of caste alliances, where parties scheme and strategise based on the ever-shifting sands of community loyalties.

The Mahagathbandhan, comprising parties like the RJD and Congress, understands the necessity of securing the crucial Sahani-Nishad-Mallah vote bank.

However, Sahani's demands for 24 seats reflect a burgeoning consciousness among these communities; they are no longer satisfied with being mere pawns in a larger game. Instead, they seek to be key players, a shift that could redefine the electoral landscape.

In this context, Sahani's insistence on a higher seat allocation is emblematic of a deeper ideological struggle. It speaks to the aspirations of a community that wishes to break free from the shackles of historical subjugation by OBC leaders and upper caste leaders in the past.

The stakes are high; Sahani's success or failure could very well determine the trajectory of political power in Bihar. If the Mahagathbandhan fails to meet Sahani's demands, they risk alienating a crucial nine per cent voter base that could swing the elections in 2025.