HAM Chief Quotes Revolutionary Poetry, Threatens Solo Contest on 100 Seats as Alliance Partners Remain Silent; BJP Scrambles to Save Coalition from Collapse
Patna, October 8: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar is witnessing significant turbulence ahead of the upcoming assembly elections as senior alliance partner Jitan Ram Manjhi has drawn a hard line on seat distribution. Manjhi recently modified a classical reference to demand 15 seats in the alliance’s seat-sharing arrangement , posting verses from renowned poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s work on his social media platform with the powerful lines: “Ho nyay agar to aadha do, yadi usme bhi koi baadha ho, to…” (If there is justice, give half, and if there’s any obstacle in that, then…).
The Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief is demanding 15 seats, warning that if offered fewer, his party is prepared to contest 100 seats independently . Sources indicate Manjhi has been offered only 7-8 seats so far, significantly below his expectations. His poetic post underscores his dissatisfaction with the proposed formula and serves as a thinly veiled threat to the alliance.
Meanwhile, Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) has maintained conspicuous silence on the seat-sharing issue, though he is reportedly demanding 30 seats . Preliminary discussions suggest JDU may receive 102-103 seats, BJP 101-102 seats, LJP (Ramvilas) 25-28 seats, HAM 6-7 seats, and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM 4-5 seats .
Recently, BJP leaders including Vinod Tawde and Dharmendra Pradhan held closed-door meetings with alliance partners to resolve the impasse. With nominations opening shortly, the NDA leadership faces mounting pressure to finalize the seat distribution formula before internal discord damages the coalition’s electoral prospects.
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