© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The BJP is fine-tuning the caste combination of its team to lead Bihar into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Having already confirmed an upper caste as its Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly, and an OBC as its state president, it has now got a lesser-known leader from the EBC (Economically Backward Classes) as its LoP in the state’s Legislative Council.
Hari Sahani is a first-time MLC and former Darbhanga district president of the BJP. A senior party leader said his importance went beyond that. “Hari Sahani wasn’t even a state-level leader, but was elevated just because he can be used as a Nishad or a Sahani face to neutralise Mukesh Sahani’s influence as a Mallah leader.”
The BJP has been trying to cater to the state’s EBCs, mainly members of the Nishad or Mallah caste. With Mallah leader and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani playing hard-to-get, often switching sides, it appears that the BJP has decided to get a Sahani of its own.
Hari Sahani also belongs to Darbhanga district in north Bihar, the same as Mukesh Sahani. The district has a good number of EBC Mallahs who bear surnames such as Sahani, Kewat and Nishad.
Hari Sahani, who has been a committed BJP leader, had contested unsuccessfully from Darbhanga Rural in the 2015 Assembly polls. In 2020, he was given a ticket from Keoti in Darbhanga, but withdrew from the race after the party decided to field Murari Mohan Jha, a Brahmin candidate, to maintain its projection of social balance in the region. The party went on to win the Keoti seat and suitably rewarded Sahani by making him an MLC in 2022.
Sahani is a Kabirpanthi and also a follower of the Baba of Bageshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri.
Soon after Hari Sahani’s name was announced as the new LoP in the Bihar Council, he attacked Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as a “zero watt bulb”. Sahani told reporters, “I am overwhelmed with the party giving me such a big responsibility. I have been a loyal party soldier all these years.”
Devesh Kumar, an MLC who had been in charge of Darbhanga district, said: “Hari Sahani is a committed party worker. He has a good following among the Mallahs. He had campaigned in the Kurhani bypolls.”
BJP state president Samrat Choudhary said: “Sahani was made LoP, a post I had held so far, following the party’s principle of ‘one man, one post’.”
