Gaya, April 24: Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today claimed around 2 to 2.5 lakh supporters turned up at the Hindustani Awam Morcha's April 20 rally at Gandhi Maidan.

"It is a big achievement for any individual like me who is not leading a well-established organisation. No other political leader, who is out of power, can draw such a huge crowd of supporters on an individual basis. The crowd would have been much bigger had the weather been moderate. It was too hot that day. Many supporters were also engaged in agriculture work. Besides, more than a lakh of people were deliberately stopped at different places by the administration," Manjhi alleged.

Earlier, Manjhi had said that if a crowd of five lakh did not turn up at the rally, he would retire from politics. He, however, claimed it is owing to the announcement that his sympathisers numbering between 2 to 2.5 lakh, turned up at the meet.

When The Telegraph asked him about his future plan in politics, Manjhi said: "I am ready to go into alliance with anyone other than Nitish Kumar. I have no bitterness for the BJP." He reiterated his claim of contesting the upcoming Assembly polls on all 243 seats in the state. "I am not bothered as to how many seats we would win. In May, we would submit an application to the Election Commission of India for a symbol allotment," he added.

Criticising the governance in the state, he said the law and order situation has deteriorated and hence President's rule should be imposed here.

On the storm that claimed more than 33 lives, Manjhi said Nitish should get a survey conducted to assess the real damage and provide adequate compensation to the affected families. "Merely distributing cereals among such families is not enough," he added.