Ex-Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi quits Mahagathbandhan ahead of polls, blames Lalu's RJD

In a big blow to RJD's Mahagathbandhan ahead of assembly elections, former Bihar Chief Minister and leader of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) Jitan Ram Manjhi left the opposition Grand Alliance on Thursday. The decision to walk out of the five-party opposition coalition in Bihar was taken at the Hindustani Awam Morcha's core committee meeting at Manjhi's residence in Patna. Manjhi's step to quit Mahagathbandhan also comes days after former JDU Dalit leader Shyam Rajak joined RJD.

Party spokesman Danish Rizwan told reporters: "HAM will no longer be a constituent of the grand alliance. The party has decided to leave the Mahagathbandhan. The party has authorised its president to decide the future course of action."

Manjhi's party had disagreements with RJD over Tejashwi Yadav being declared the CM candidate. Holding the Lalu Yadav led party responsible for the failure to form a coordination committee to iron out the differences within the alliance for better functioning, party spokesperson said, "Leaders who do not listen to the constituent partners, will they listen to the people after coming to power? Our leader Jitan Ram Manjhi has categorically stated that there is no point in continuing with the alliance which does not follow democratic norms and listen to its partners." He also said that meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not fruitful. 

Manjhi was a close confidant of Nitish Kumar

Though HAM has still not declared if it will contest the polls alone or align to any coalition, it will be particularly interesting to see if Jitan Ram Manjhi, veer towards the JD(U)-led NDA once again. Not long ago, Manjhi was a close confidant of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who even made him CM of the state in 2014. However, in the ever-evolving political scene of Bihar, Manjhi in 2015 revolted against his mentor Nitish and was ousted after JDU MLAs pulled back their support ahead of the trust vote.  

With the exit of Hindustani Awam Morcha, the opposition Grand Alliance now comprises the RJD, Congress, former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) and ex-Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni's Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP). RJD also suffered a big jolt after senior RJD MLA Chandrika Rai - who was a close friend of Lalu Yadav and also Tej Pratap Yadav's father-in-law, and two MLAs Faraz Fatmi and Jaiwardhan Yadav joined the ruling JD(U).

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Bihar election 2020

Amid rising COVID-19 cases, Bihar is all set to go to polls for a 243-member assembly seat this year. While BJP and JDU have said that they will contest the polls with CM Nitish Kumar as the leader, the Mahagathbandhan consisting of RJD, Congress, HAM, and others are still discussing the name of former CM Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav. 

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While Kumar faces strong anti-incumbency, RJD - Bihar's main opposition has lost the luster it once had due to the absence of it's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.  Meanwhile, former JDU vice president Prashant Kishor has also claimed that he is working at 'ground level' for the development of Bihar.  In a twist of sorts, London-based Pushpam Priya Choudhary, the daughter of JDU leader Binod Choudhary, on March 8 declared herself as the Chief Ministerial candidate.

In the 2015 assembly polls, CM Nitish Kumar's JDU, then a part of the Mahagathbandhan won 71 seats, Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD won 80 seats, and Congress won 27 seats. The BJP which fought the elections alone after Kumar in 2013 broke the 17-year-old alliance won a mere 53 seats out of 157 contested. However, the saffron party came back to power when Kumar ditched the Mahagathbandhan and once again stitched an alliance with the BJP.

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