Bihar polls: HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi meets CM Nitish Kumar, hints at coalition

After breaking away from the Bihar Mahagathbandhan, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president Jitan Ram Manjhi met with CM Nitish Kumar on Thursday. When asked about a possible coalition with JDU-BJP, he said that no political talks were held and that decision will be announced on August 30. Bihar is set to go to polls in October-November, dates yet to be declared.

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HAM president meets Nitish Kumar

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

Manjhi quits Mahagathbandhan

A week ago, Manjhi left the opposition Grand Alliance - delivering a big blow to the RJD ahead of state elections.  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 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, a 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."

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Manjhi & Kumar's ties

Prior to 2015, Manjhi was a close confidant of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who even made him CM of the state in 2014. But in 2015, Manjhi revolted against Nitish and was ousted after JDU MLAs pulled back their support ahead of the trust vote. Manjhi's exit has weakened the already weak Maha Gathbandhan which has also seen the exit of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai - who was a close friend of Lalu Yadav and also Tej Pratap Yadav's father-in-law, senior MLAs Faraz Fatmi, Jaiwardhan Yadav and three more MLAs - all joining the ruling Nitish Kumar-led JDU.

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Bihar assembly elections 

Bihar will go to polls amid COVID-19 pandemic, with the EC releasing guidelines for conducting polls. As BJP lost in Delhi, all eyes are set on former party chief Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar -led JDU. 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 - with his son Tejashwi, most likely to be named as CM hopeful.  Currently, the JDU-BJP combination rules the state with 131 seats, while RJD-Congress opposition has 111 seats.