Former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAM-S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday said he had quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and would join the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led grand alliance.
Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Tejaswi Yadav reached Mr. Manjhi’s residence on Wednesday morning and after a closed-door meeting, Mr. Manjhi declared that he had come out of the NDA.
Mr. Manjhi wanted his outfit to contest the by-election to the Jehanabad Assembly seat but the BJP requested its alliance partner JD(U) to enter the fray. The JD(U) has named Abhiram Sharma as its candidate. The development apparently hurt Mr. Manjhi, a Dalit leader, and hence he decided to quit the NDA.
Political buzz in the State was that Mr Manjhi wanted his son to be fielded from Jehanabad.
Earlier, senior HAM(S) leader Brishan Patel met RJD chief Lalu Prasad in the Ranchi jail.
He is like my guardian: Tejaswi Yadav
“Mr. Manjhi is like my guardian and he will get his due respect in our grand alliance”, said Mr. Tejaswi Yadav.
Welcoming Mr. Manjhi into the grand alliance, State Congress president (in charge) Kaukab Quadri said, “it’s a happy moment for us… though, he [Mr Manjhi] took a late decision to come out of the NDA where he was not getting due respect, but its a right decision.”
