d Post News Network
Patna : Cracks in Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) in Bihar came to surface on November 8, 2019, when the other constituents of the five-party alliance dismissed Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi’s fresh threat to pull out the alliance as his pressure tactics and said he would ultimately fall in line.
HAM Chief Manjhi had announced at the national executive meeting of his party here on November 7, 2019, night, that the party might go it alone in Jharkhand Assembly polls and also field its candidates in all the 243 assembly segments in Bihar Assembly polls in 2020. Manjhi is, however, was yet to decided which seats to contest in Jharkhand where elections have been announced and polls would be held by the end of this month.
Manjhi’s move to contest all the seats in Bihar is in line with his repeated threats issued after the drubbing received by the Grand Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls. HAM had lost all the five Lok Sabha seats it had contested including the Gaya seat from where Manjhi himself lost to a relative newcomer Vijay Manjhi of JD(U).
There are speculations that Manjhi may be eyeing a return to the NDA fold headed by the BJP. Manjhi, however, on November 8, 2019, denied any plans to return to the NDA.
RJD national vice president and former Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh dismissed Manjhi’s outburst saying he is indulging in a bit of shadow boxing to enthuse his party workers. But that happens to all parties in a coalition, Singh added. Once the process of campaign for Bihar assembly polls picks up, he is going to find no other abode except the Grand Alliance.