Rumblings in NDA? 'HAM not given a fair deal in Lok Sabha elections,' ally Jitan Ram Manjhi's big claim ahead of Bihar polls

All does not seem well within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA ahead of the Bihar assembly polls scheduled to be held later this year. Union minister and key ally Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday claimed that his party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) was not given a fair deal by the ruling alliance in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. 

While speaking to reporters, he claimed that his party was promised 2 Lok Sabha seats and 1 berth in the Rajya Sabha but "because of our loyalty towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we remained content with what was actually offered".

In the Lok Sabha polls, the HAM got only the Gaya seat, which Manjhi contested and made his debut as an MP at 80 years of age. He further said that he has taken up the matter with BJP national president J P Nadda and JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha. 

"My party workers have been feeling sidelined by the BJP and JD(U). Both Nadda and Jha have assured me that our concerns will be addressed squarely in the assembly polls due later this year," the former Bihar chief minister noted.

If this isn't enough, then, what does Manjhi want for his party in the assembly polls? The NDA ally said he wanted his party to contest 35-40 seats in the 243 seat-strong assembly. 

In this assembly election, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar is likely to run for a fifth straight term in office. 

His rationale being that the HAM contested 7 seats in 2020 and won 4 of them. "It has been my view that if HAM ahs 20 MLAs, the party will be able to push its pro-Dalit agenda effectively, no matter who is the chief minister. For a tally of 20 or more, we must get 35-40 seats to contest."

The JD(U), BJP and HAM are not the only players in the NDA alliance in Bihar. The other players include Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha. 

(With inputs from PTI)