Union minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi has threatened to give up his cabinet berth in the NDA if his demand to contest 40 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections was not met.
“We did not get anything (any seats to contest) in Jharkhand and Delhi. You may say that I did not demand either. But was it justice? I was overlooked because we had no presence in the two states. But we must prove our worth in Bihar,” Manjhi said at a public meeting in Munger district on Tuesday.
Quoting a verse from Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas — “Bhay binu hohin na preet (There is no love or respect without fear)” — the 80-year-old said: “It seems I will have to resign from the cabinet.”
He said he wanted 40 seats for HAMS to contest in the Assembly polls to be held at the end of this year. “Some people may say I am fighting against the NDA. But the leadership of Narendra Modi is such that there is no question of a revolt. I am just pleading. I am not indulging in a confrontation,” he said.
Manjhi has positioned himself as the leader of the Mahadalit Musahar caste, which accounts for around 3.1 per cent of the 13.07-crore population of Bihar. HAMS has four MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, but Manjhi is the only MP from the party.
After showing a rebellious streak in Munger, Manjhi sought to control the damage by declaring his undying support for Modi through a post on X. He told reporters on Wednesday that his remarks were misconstrued.