PATNA: Seat-sharing talks among constituents of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for upcoming Bihar assembly elections are likely to take place by the end of June or first week of July, Union Minister and Hidustani Awam Morcha (HAM) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi said on Monday.
Manjhi, who met Union Home Minister and BJP election strategist Amit Shah in New Delhi, said that all the constituents of NDA would get respectable number of seats in the assembly elections scheduled to be held in October-November.
HAM had earlier staked claim to 40 seats in the 243-member assembly. When asked about seat expectations, Manjhi said the allotment for NDA allies would be decided at a meeting in late June or early July.
He, however, reaffirmed that the coming assembly elections in Bihar would be contested under leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. “There is no confusion about the leader to head the assembly polls in the state,” he asserted.
“All alliance partners will contest the assembly election under leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It has also been confirmed by top leadership of BJP,” he said, adding that NDA would win 225 out of 243 seats in the assembly polls.
Manjhi’s press advisor Danish Rizwan said that the meeting between Manjhi and Amit Shah assumed significance in the wake of assembly elections. The two leaders discussed on NDA’s election strategy for assembly elections and development projects.
Manjhi earlier called on Bihar BJP president Dilip Kumar Jaiswal in Patna and held discussions on upcoming assembly elections in the state. He, however, said that he expressed his displeasure over HAM being neglected in 20-point committee formed in districts.
HAM founder Manjhi said Amit Shah assured him that his complaint regarding the 20-point district and block level committees in Bihar would be looked into. HAM has four MLAs, and the party’s state president, Santosh Kumar Suman, is a minister in the Nitish cabinet.
Later in his post on ‘X’, Manjhi said, “It was the first formal meeting with Amit Shah after the formation of the cabinet. I expressed my gratitude for being inducted in the cabinet.”
In a related development, JD(U) MP Ram Prit Mandal demanded to declare chief minister Nitish Kumar as convenor of NDA. “Nitish should be made convenor of NDA. All constituents of NDA should sit together to take a decision on the matter,” he told the media.