PATNA: Internal bickering over seat-sharing within NDA surfaced after union minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday contended that his party would contest at least 35-40 seats in upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
Speaking at a public meeting in Purnea, Manjhi, who is also an MP representing the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, declared that HAM, an ally of ruling NDA both in the state and at the Centre, would contest 35-40 seats. “We will have at least 20 MLAs in the 243-member Assembly,” the former CM said.
Manjhi named Rajenera Yadav as HAM candidate for the Kasba assembly seat. In addition, he announced the formation of ‘HAM Sena’ to strengthen the organisation at grassroots level before the elections, which are set to take place in October-November.
He expessed concerns about his party being continuously sidelined. “It feels as if we are not part of the NDA,” over poor representation of HAM in govt-run organisations.