The former Bihar Chief Minister and expelled Janata Dal (United) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi makes no bones about his dislike of his one time leader Nitish Kumar — and his determination to ensure that he doesn’t get another term as Chief Minister.
In the national capital five days after he launched the “Hindustani Awam Morcha” (HAM), Mr. Manjhi said his new party would contest all 243 seats alone in the Bihar polls later this year, but that he was open to a post-poll arrangement with any other political outfit — the BJP, the Congress or even the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD — but not with the JD(U).
Mr. Manjhi, who is in the capital ostensibly for a medical check-up, said in an informal conversation that he had received a message from RJD boss Lalu Prasad, but had not yet responded.
Explaining his reason for contesting alone, Mr. Manjhi said, “I want to test my strength and that will be possible only if my party goes it alone.”
For the Mahadalit leader, the JD(U) leadership’s decision last year to catapult him from obscurity to Chief Ministership has clearly transformed his prospects: he is now seen as a Mahadalit leader in Bihar and the way in which he is being wooed by political parties from the RJD to the BJP has changed his own view of himself.
His bête noire But clearly, so deep seated is his hatred of Mr. Kumar that the JD (U) sees him as a thorn in the flesh, and fears that his HAM could erode its vote share in the State. This has coincided with the current rocky negotiations between the JD(U) and the RJD in the sharing of seats in the upcoming polls.
The general consensus among politicians is that if the JD(U)-RJD alliance is a perfect one and the Congress, too, throws in its lot with it, it can give the BJP-led alliance, now in a commanding position, a run for its money.
Hopes for arrow symbol Mr. Manjhi also hoped that the Janata Parivar merger would take place before the elections so that he could apply for the JD(U) arrow symbol — that would have helped him. But with the fate of the merger now still uncertain, he has applied for a different symbol, he said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Manjhi exuded confidence: It now remains to be seen whether his party will emerge as a spoiler for the JD(U)-RJD combine and help the BJP-led alliance claim Bihar later this year.
Mr. Lalu Prasad knows that — and he has therefore been sending out conciliatory messages to him.
