In a boost to its determination to capture power in Bihar, the BJP on Thursday roped in former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. Ending weeks of speculation about his role in the battle of Bihar, the Mahadalit leader announced a tie-up with the BJP to defeat the “unholy” alliance between Nitish Kumar and lalu Prasad.
Making the announcement after a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah, Manjhi said a strong alliance is needed to defeat the “Janata Parivar” in the upcoming Assembly elections.
“In Bihar, an unholy alliance between Nitish Kumar and lalu Prasad has been formed...I spoke to Amit Shah in this context. We have to work together to prevent lalu and Nitish from coming to power,” Manjhi told reporters after the 30-minute meeting with the BJP president.
Manjhi said he had held rallies across the State where the “consensus” was to get rid of the lalu-Nitish combine. “Yadavs feel that lalu has betrayed them by joining hands with Nitish, who put thousands of Yadavs behind bars on petty charges. They no longer think that lalu is their leader. Under these circumstances, I felt that an alternative was needed,” he said.
The former Chief Minister said he will continue to run Hindustani Awam Morcha, and it will become “a part and parcel” of NDA to “destroy” the lalu-Nitish alliance. Manjhi said he has already applied to the Election Commission for a symbol.
Asked about seat-sharing agreement with the BJP, he said, “It has been decided that we will go to any extent possible to help each other. We have not held any seat-sharing discussion. Our core committee will meet on June 15 and take a decision there. Our preparations are for all 243 seats.”
On whether there will be a Chief Ministerial candidate of the alliance, he said, “It will be better if the name of Chief Minister is announced after the election.”
Besides Manjhi, Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, a key BJP partner in the State and former Bihar Chief Minister too met Shah here to discuss poll strategy and seat-sharing in Bihar. After meeting BJP president at his residence, Kushwaha conceded the alliance between the JDU) and the RJD has made NDA’s work in the coming Assembly elections “harder”.
“We will have to work harder now,” Kushwaha, leader of the Rashtriya lok Samata Party (RlSP), told PTI
BJP general secretary inchage of Bihar Bhupendra Yadav and his predecessor and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan too were present in the meeting with Shah at latter’s residence.
RlSP is understood to have sought 40-50 seats to contest. Kushwaha, however, declined to comment on the demand, saying it was not discussed. “We discussed our strategy for the Assembly election. It was an initial talk,” he said. Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s lJP is another BJP ally in the State.