Ahead of Bihar polls, Manjhi returns to NDA

Former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday said that his party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) will contest the Assembly elections as a constituent of NDA in Bihar.

Making a formal announcement regarding his entry into the NDA Mr. Manjhi said that “we are not going to merge our party but have decided to remain in alliance with the JD(U). From now onwards we are part of NDA in Bihar”.

His entry into the NDA is being seen as a major setback for the grand alliance ahead of Assembly elections slated to be held in October – November.

Sources said that after quitting the grand alliance in August, Manjhi also explored the possibility to ally with several political parties. HAM insiders said that he discussed the issue with Pappu Yadav of Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) and Mukesh Sahani of Vikasheel Insan Party but his talks failed.

A week earlier Jitan Ram Manjhi met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to discuss his entry into the NDA. HAM insiders said that during his meeting he asked for around 15-20 seats in Magadh region and one MLC seat for himself. But the JD(U) is believed to have offered

10-12 seats. Clarifying party’s position on the issue of seat adjustments, HAM spokesperson Danish Rizwan told this newspaper that, “Seats are not the issue our party is willing to accept any number of seats being allotted by the NDA. Our motive is to stand firmly behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is trying to deal with the current economic condition of the country and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has been working for the state’s development”.

A section in the JD(U) feels that Manjhi’s entry could help the NDA in the expansion of Dalit voters’ base in the state. Dalits in Bihar are over 15 per cent of the total voters and about 40 seats in the 243member house are reserved for them.

Currently, the NDA in the state comprises JD(U), BJP and Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP.

Manjhi was ousted from the JD(U) in 2015 for rebelling against Nitish Kumar who had installed him as Chief Minister. He later formed HAM and contested 21 seats in the

2015 assembly elections as an NDA constituent.

In March 2018, he joined the grand alliance led by RJD. However, after his differences with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on the issue of coordination committee he walked out of the opposition coalition on August 20.