Shuttling between Bihar and Mumbai, 'son of Mallah' draws Extremely Backward Castes to BJP

Wearing a diamond stud in his left year, a white kurta pyjama and grey jacket, a tall young man steps off the helicopter along with BJP president Amit Shah. Through the dust, the crowd starts shouting 'Amit Shah zindabad, Mukesh Sahni zindabad'.

The sun was about to set by the time they addressed the gathering which had been waiting for over two hours at the police Civil Lines ground. "Son of Mallah ka Namaskar. I am not a politician, I am your friend... I am fighting for the Welfare of Nishads and other Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) and to see your dreams are fulfilled," said Sahni. A Nishad or Mallah, traditionally boatmen, he has attended over twenty rallies with Shah.

In the crowd are several from his community, who pledge their support to the party Mukesh Sahni endorses, and three tractors carrying boats with fishing nets and fishermen.

"He is a symbol of hope for the aspirational class," said a senior BJP leader. The party has set its eyes on the 24 per cent EBC vote, which can tilt the scales in the high stake battle for Bihar. The Mallahs constitute a large chunk of the EBCs, comprising over 100 castes, who fear Yadav domination.

A fisherman's son, Mukesh Sahni's story began in Supaul Bazaar village in Darbhanga. In 1999, at 18, bored of studies and monotony of his life, he ran away to Mumbai. After working for 6-7 months as a salesman in a general store, he returned to Bihar. "But I didn't like the pressure to study. I enjoyed the freedom in Mumbai. After school I also had to pick up the day's catch and take it to the market," he recalled, talking to dna.

Sahni returned to Mumbai, again working in a general store. But, this time his journey took a turn that changed his life forever. While working at the store, he picked up glass cutting work from a nearby shop. In 2001, when Sanjay Leela Bhansali was making 'Devdas', Sahni got an offer to work on the film sets for Rs 500 per day. Sahni, who was earning Rs 900 a month, took up the job and since then there was no looking back as he went on to launch Mukesh Enterprises which in 2008 became Mukesh Cine World Ltd.

Today there would be no film in Bollywood in which my company would not have had done some work on the sets," he said.

He went to his village in 2008 on chhat puja. It was then that the contrast in his life in Mumbai and that of the villagers struck him. This turned out be yet another milestone. He started working at the district level for his community and in February, 2014, a Nishad conference was held in Darbhanga's Raj maidan. "I had no clue about politics, but the Lok Sabha elections were due and politicians started dropping by at home," he said.

When Sahni was introduced to BJP state chief Mangal Pandey, he put up three conditions–maximum tickets to Nishads, tribal status for the community and special status for Bihar.

"But, they forgot me after the elections. I made it plain that the Nishads were with no party. Nitish cleared a decision in cabinet in our favour but his alliance gave only seven tickets to the community while NDA gave 14," he said.

Sahni claimed that the JD-U and RJD tried to lure him by offering Rajya Sabha seat. "Only the party in power in Delhi can help us," he said. He quickly added that though he was supporting BJP, he had nothing to do with the party.

Exuding confidence that BJP would gain 5-6 per cent votes from his support, Sahni said he had no intention of joining politics.

From living in a remote village as a fisherman's son to a penthouse in Koregaon, from being in t-shirt and jeans in Mumbai to wearing kurta pyjama in Bihar, from working in a general store to sharing dais with Shah and from hating being the son of a fisherman to proudly calling himself "son of Mallah", Sahni has come a long way.

BJP's EBC faces campaigning in Bihar
Dara Singh Chauhan: Former BSP MP who joined BJP in February is a UP OBC leader. A noniya, which is part of EBCs in Bihar, he is holding community rallies with Shah.
Prem Kumar: Six-time Gaya MLA, a Chandravanshi, an influential community within the EBCs (extremely backward caste) bracket, is also accompanying Shah for rallies.
Bhim Singh: In the heat of elections, the BJP roped in former JD-U minister and EBC leader Bhim Singh, who had made controversial remarks after killing of Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti: A Nishad from UP, she has been fielded to reach out to the community in Bihar.
Ram Chandra Chandravanshi: A minister in the Jharkhand government whose constituency falls on the Bihar border.