Ruling NDA ally and Bihar Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday said his party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha, would opt not to contest if it was allotted less than 15 seats, driving a hard bargain ahead of the November Assembly polls.
Seat-sharing talks and bargaining by allies for a “respectable” number of seats have picked up in the two competing blocs, the incumbent NDA and the Opposition Mahagathbandhan, after the poll panel’s announcement of the November 6 and 11 Bihar elections.
Manjhi, the micro, small and medium enterprises minister in the Narendra Modi government, has upped the ante amid reports that the leadership of the BJP and the JDU, the two dominant parties in the Bihar NDA, have decided to allot single-digit seats to the HAM.
“We are making a humble request to the NDA leaders because we feel humiliated. We need a respectable number of seats so that we get recognition as a party,” Manjhi, who hails from a marginalised Dalit caste, told reporters in Patna.
Pressing his demand for at least 15 seats, he said: “If we do not get the proposed number of seats, we will not contest the election. We will support the NDA, but we won’t contest the election.”
Manjhi iterated his loyalty towards the NDA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar and sought support to get his party recognised.
“I have always stood with the NDA and now they must show sympathy for my party. I just want our party to be recognised,” he said.
The HAM’s demand would surely pile pressure on the NDA’s top leadership. Apart from Big Brothers BJP and JDU, there are three smaller parties — LJP (Ram Vilas), the HAM and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha. Each of them is bargaining hard for an increased share, realising they would matter in a closely contested election.
The NDA hasn’t officially announced a seat-sharing deal but insiders said the BJP was likely to contest around 102 and the JDU 103 and distribute the remaining 38 seats among the junior partners. Sources said the LJP (RV) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan was likely to get 20-22 seats, HAM 8-10 and the Upendra Kushwaha-helmed RLM 6-7.
Insiders said Manjhi sought to publicly step up the heat after he was told about his possible share. BJP president J.P. Nadda has spoken to Manjhi and sought to pacify him, the sources said.
“Allies bargaining hard for seats happens in every election. Our top leaders are handling the issue and everything will be fine,” a BJP leader said.
Manjhi, whose HAM commands support among the Musahar caste Dalits, hopes to get recognition as a state party if it gets to contest an increased number of seats.
For recognition as a state party by the Election Commission, the HAM needs to secure at least 6 per cent of the total valid votes polled in an Assembly election and win at least two seats. Alternatively, the party must poll at least 6 per cent votes in a Lok Sabha election in the state and win at least one Lok Sabha seat. A third criterion is corner at least 8 per cent of the valid votes polled without winning any seats.
The HAM has so far not been able to fulfil any of these criteria. In the 2020 Assembly polls, the party had contested seven seats as part of the NDA and won four, but its aggregate vote share was less than 6 per cent. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the party contested and won one seat but again failed to achieve the 6 per cent vote target.