His own candidate lost Bochahan bypoll but Mukesh Sahani celebrates BJP's defeat

Bihar on Saturday witnessed the quaint sight of a political party erupting in celebrations after its candidate got drubbed in a key electoral contest.

The ministerial bungalow occupied by Vikasshheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani, who was sacked a few weeks ago, suddenly came alive with its leader distributing sweets among supporters and smearing their faces with 'gulaal', shortly after the result of the Bochahan assembly bypoll was announced.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of VIP MLA Musafir Paswan whose son Amar won, albeit on a ticket of the RJD, while Sahani's candidate Gita Devi finished a distant third and barely avoided forfeit of deposit.

However, Sahani was apparently happy to see the outcome as a comeuppance for the BJP which had helped him climb the ladder of political success, only to dump him less than two years later.

BJP candidate Baby Kumari, a former MLA herself, lost by a huge margin of more than 36,000 votes. Her candidature was unilaterally announced by the BJP, in an obvious snub to Sahani who had left his political mentors sore by his indiscreetly aggressive campaign in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

The former Bollywood set designer was inducted into the NDA in the thick of assembly elections in 2020, shortly after he quit the RJD-led Grand Alliance, accusing Tejashwi Yadav of neglect.

Despite losing his own seat, Sahani clinched a berth in the Nitish Kumar cabinet at the instance of BJP which also helped him get elected to the legislative council.

His attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in UP elections left the BJP rank and file fuming, but Sahani continued to punch above his weight and fielded his own candidates against those fielded by the saffron party in biennial polls to the Bihar Vidhan Parishad.

Finally, the BJP struck back, weaned away all three surviving MLAs of the VIP and, shortly after throwing its hat in the ring for Bochahan, got Sahani expelled from the cabinet by petitioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Not seen as a serious politician by parties in the ruling dispensation, as well as the opposition, Sahani stares at a bleak future unless offered a helping hand by any of the major players in the state.

The 44 years old, though, seems content enjoying himself for the moment. One of his foot-soldiers recalled the old Shahrukh Khan dialogue -- "haar kar jitney waale ko baazigar kahte hain" (gamesmanship is all about being a winner even in a defeat).

The Bollywood hangover, impeding a clear, hard-nosed understanding of the world of politics, is yet to be over.

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