Patna, Oct 7 (IANS): The BJP allocated 11 seats to the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) from its own quota on Wednesday for the coming Bihar Assembly elections, choosing to contest 110 seats in all. VIP chief Mukesh Sahani has dubbed his alliance with the BJP as 'ghar wapsi' and said his party would fight under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit chief Sanjay Jaiswal announced the allocation of 11 seats to the VIP led by Sahani, who dramatically left the Grand Alliance on Saturday after the Rashtriya Janata Dal failed to allocate it seats during the announcement on seat-sharing in Patna.
He walked off in a huff, leaving the RJD, Congress and Left leaders stunned.
Sahani was expecting 25 seats from the Grand Alliance and the Deputy CM's post which, he claimed, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had promised him.
BJP sources said that Sahani was allocated 11 seats as a reward by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as he had openly challenged Tejashwi and other Grand Alliance leaders during the press meet on Saturday.
"Being a son of the most backward class, I was back-stabbed by Tejashwi Yadav. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put balm on my wound. I will contest the Assembly elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar," Sahani said.
"I began my political career in 2015 with the BJP and was influenced by Modi. Due to some reasons, I switched to the Grand Alliance in search of social justice. It was a mistake. It is a 'ghar wapsi' for me and I express my gratitude to the top leadership of the BJP, including Modi and Shah," the VIP chief said.
As per the seat-sharing formula in the National Democratic Alliance, the BJP was allocated 121 seats and the JD-U 122 seats.
Further, the BJP was to accommodate the VIP whereas the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) led by former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi was to be accommodated by the Janata Dal-United. The JD-U has already given seven seats to HAM.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that the inclusion of Sahani would make the NDA stronger in Bihar. "There are 10 sub-castes in the Nishad community only, and the OBCs comprise over 40 per cent of the total electorate in Bihar," he pointed out.