Express News Service
PATNA: The Janata Dal United (JDU), which is part of the ruling NDA in Bihar, on Tuesday invited Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani to join the party if he is willing.
Sahani’s political career is in the doldrums after he was dropped from the state cabinet as the minister for fisheries and animal husbandry. He was also expelled from the NDA.
Talking to a private news channel, JDU spokesperson Madhav Anand said the door for the VIP supremo Sahani is open in the JDU. “He may work with us as a leader or worker of the party,” he said.
Three MLAs of Sahani’s party recently joined the BJP. With this, the number of BJP MLAs in the 243-member Bihar assembly rose to 77.
Anand said if Sahani wished he may merge his party with the JDU. At present, the VIP has no legislator in the state assembly. Moreover, his term as MLC will come to an end in July this year. “He has no political stake right now,” the JDU leader pointed out.
Earlier, Congress legislator party chief Ajit Sharma had offered Sahani to join the grand old party. However, Sahani didn’t react to his offer and said that he would continue to fight for the rights of the people belonging to the fishermen community.
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Sahani was sacked from the cabinet on Monday at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) apparently following his attacks on prime minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The JDU spokesperson Anand said VIP was accommodated by the BJP under the seat-sharing formula among the constituents of the NDA in Bihar.
“Once dumped by the BJP, the VIP is no more an ally of the NDA in the state,” he clarified. He, however, hoped that Sahani will consider the proposal if he wanted to render his service to the people of Bihar.
Earlier in the day, Sahani lashed out at the BJP for putting his political career at stake. “But I will not bow down and continue my fight for the rights of the people of my community,” he told the media.
On the contrary, he has been soft toward chief minister Nitish Kumar, who sacked him from the cabinet. Moreover, he thanked Nitish for giving him an opportunity to serve the people under his leadership.
