Jitan Ram Manjhi Demands 15 Seats for Hindustan Awam Morcha in Bihar NDA Alliance

Jitan Ram Manjhi has expressed that he wants a minimum of 15 seats for his party as part of the NDA seat-sharing arrangement.

Patna:

Indicating tensions within the NDA ahead of the Bihar election, ally Jitan Ram Manjhi has declared that if his Hindustan Awam Morcha is not allocated at least 15 seats to contest, they will abstain from participating in the elections completely. However, the former Chief Minister has clarified that his party would remain within the NDA alliance. Reports suggest that BJP president JP Nadda has reached out to Manjhi in an effort to address his concerns.

"We are appealing to NDA leadership because we feel disrespected. We require a dignified number of seats to gain recognition as a political party. If our proposed seat allocation is not met, we will not participate in the election. We will continue supporting NDA, but won't contest. I have no aspirations to become Chief Minister. My only desire is for our party to receive proper recognition," he explained.

Previously, offering subtle indications regarding his party's expectations in the NDA's seat-sharing discussions for the Bihar election, Manjhi adapted renowned poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's verses to emphasize his demand for "15 villages"—symbolizing 15 electoral seats.

In a message shared on X platform this morning, Manjhi quoted lines from Dinkar's famous war poem Rashmirathi, with a slight modification. Rashmirathi portrays Lord Krishna's final attempt to prevent the Mahabharata conflict. "Ho nyay agar to aadha do, yadi usmein bhi koi badha ho, to de do keval 15 gram, rakho apni dharti tamam, HAM wahi khushi se khayenge, parijan pe asi na uthayenge," Manjhi posted on X. This roughly translates to 'Give us just 15 villages and keep everything else. HAM will be satisfied and won't raise weapons against our own.' In Dinkar's original poem, he wrote '5 gram' — representing 5 villages for the five Pandava brothers. Manjhi substituted this with 15.

The NDA coalition partners have yet to reveal their seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Bihar election. According to sources, JDU and BJP might contest approximately 100 seats each out of the total 243 assembly seats. Chirag Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas) may receive 24, Manjhi's party 10, and Upendra Kushwaha's party could be assigned about six seats. Besides Manjhi, Chirag Paswan has also expressed dissatisfaction with this allocation and has been advocating for a minimum of 40 seats.