From Devdas sets to bid for Bihar’s deputy CM chair, how Mukesh Sahani has risen
At 19, he left Bihar, worked hard in Mumbai as a salesman, and then broke into Bollywood
Not many outside Bihar’s political circles would immediately recognise the name Mukesh Sahani. Yet the man once designing sets for Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Devdas’ and Salman Khan in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ has now emerged as the Mahagathbandhan’s deputy chief minister nominee for the 2025 Bihar assembly election.
“I had been waiting for this moment for three-and-a-half long years,” said the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief, moments after being named the deputy CM face with RJD's Tejashwi as the CM face.
Born in 1981 in Darbhanga to a fisherman family, Sahani earned the nickname 'Son of Mallah', a tribute to his community of boatmen and fisherfolk.
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How did he reach Bollywood?
At 19, he left Bihar, worked in Mumbai as a salesman, and then broke into Bollywood as a set designer, working on hits like ‘Devdas’ and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, while running his own company, Mukesh Cine World Private Limited, according to a report by India Today.
But by 2013, he said he was inspired by icons like BR Ambedkar and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur, and returned to Bihar “to fight for the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs)”, who make up over a third of the state's population.
Sahani was with the NDA during the 2020 assembly polls but left later that year as his MLAs defected to partner BJP.
When was the announcement made?
Mukesh Sahani's name as the Opposition alliance's deputy CM face was announced by senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday in Bihar.
Sahani's VIP is a key partner in the Grand Alliance and it came to a seat-sharing agreement with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress-Left combine to contest at least 11 seats in the upcoming assembly polls. He has named 15 candidates as the formal division remains to be announced.
Why does Mukesh Sahani matter so much to Mahagathbandhan?
Despite Nishads (Sahani's community) being just 2.5% of Bihar’s population and VIP contesting only 15 of the total 243 seats, Mukesh Sahani remains important to the Mahagathbandhan.
Thus, making him the deputy CM face is a strategic effort by the Mahagathbandhan to strengthen its appeal among backward and marginalised communities.
But this was not easy.
According to sources cited by news agency PTI, the VIP nearly walked out of the Mahagathbandhan after expressing discontent with the seat-sharing arrangement. The party decided to stay on only after Rahul Gandhi intervened.
Sahani is considered a leader with wide-reaching influence over voters across constituencies.
