After Chirag Paswan, another NDA ally Jitan Ram Manjhi says his party willing to go solo in Jharkhand poll

Mr. Manjhi’s HAM(S), Mr. Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) both still in seat-sharing talks with the BJP; Last month, BJP’s Jharkhand in-charge said it intends to share seats only with JD(U), AJSU for the Assembly poll

Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, chief of the Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular), became the second NDA ally to express a willingness to go solo in the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly election if required. On Thursday (October 10, 2024), he said his party would try to contest 10 seats “on its own”, though he added that the party has been in talks with the BJP over seat allocations as well.

Last week, fellow Union Minister Chirag Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) which is also part of the ruling NDA, told The Hindu that his party was prepared to contest the Jharkhand poll by itself “if seat negotiations with the BJP do not have desirable results”. He said the LJP (Ram Vilas) has a strong position in 14 seats.

The Jharkhand Assembly has 81 seats, of which 28 are reserved for candidates from Scheduled Tribes, and the BJP has previously indicated it does not intend to dole out any of them to these NDA allies.

‘Will contest for sure’

“Recently, in a meeting in Chatra in Jharkhand, I had announced that our party HAM(S) will contest in 10 seats in the upcoming Assembly poll in the State,” Mr. Manjhi told journalists in Patna on Thursday. “I’m in the NDA and have been in discussion with the NDA leadership and whatever seat will be allocated to contest in Jharkhand Assembly poll, we’ll contest,” he said, adding, “We’ll contest elections there, for sure.” Mr. Manjhi said that his party has been identifying the seats it intends to contest in Jharkhand.

The BJP had categorically said last month that it would contest the Jharkhand poll in partnership with the Janata Dal (United) and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which are also NDA allies. “We’ll have an alliance with the AJSU and JD(U) in the Jharkhand Assembly election. The seat sharing of the alliance is 99% completed and talks for just one or two seats are left,” the BJP’s Jharkhand in-charge and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced on September 28. His statement did not mention the LJP (Ram Vilas) or HAM(S) or any other NDA allies, indicating that they are not part of the BJP’s poll calculus for Jharkhand.

Multiple demands

After AJSU supremo Sudesh Mahato met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi in September, party sources said Mr. Mahato had “demanded 16 seats” to contest. In the 2019 Assembly poll, the AJSU was not part of the NDA and had contested 52 seats. Similarly, the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) has demanded 11 seats to contest in Jharkhand, citing the party’s alliance with the NDA in Bihar. Sources in the BJP’s Jharkhand unit, however, told The Hindu that the party was not willing to spare more than 10 or 11 seats to its allies, as “it has prepared to contest the remaining 70 seats”.

Political analyst Nawal Kishore Choudhury told The Hindu that both the HAM(S) and LJP (Ram Vilas) have also been “exerting pressure on BJP to spare one or two seats to them to contest in Jharkhand assembly poll to mark the presence of their parties”.

Published - October 10, 2024 08:37 pm IST