The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) may field candidates on 50 to 100 seats in the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar, as it aims to become a 'recognised party', said Union Minister and party chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday, describing the polls a "do or die" situation. Speaking to reporters in his Lok Sabha constituency of Gaya, the 80-year-old said he felt 'humiliated' that even after 10 years of him floating his party, the HAM (Secular) was denied the 'recognised party' status.
Manjhi had floated his party in 2015 after he left the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in protest against Nitish Kumar, who wanted him to step down from the position of Bihar Chief Minister to facilitate the latter's return.
"To get the status, my party needs to win at least eight seats in the Vidhan Sabha. Or, we should poll six per cent of the total votes," he said. "We can achieve the goal in two ways. We may contest at least 15 seats as an NDA constituent and, even with a strike rate of not more than 50 per cent, win the requisite number. The other way is to field candidates in 50-100 seats. We may then poll about 10,000 votes in all of these and garner the required vote share."
"The upcoming assembly polls present us with a do-or-die situation. I feel humiliated that even after 10 years, my party still falls under the category of registered but unrecognised," he added.
Trouble for NDA?
Manjhi's remarks could brew trouble for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is yet to finalise its seat-sharing formula for the Bihar elections. Notably, Union Minister Chirag Paswan has also been demanding more seats for his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). According to media reports, Chirag wants to contest on 40 seats, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has offered him 25 seats.
HAM's performance in 2020 Bihar polls
In the 2020 Bihar elections, the HAM (Secular) contested on seven seats, winning four of them. Chirag's LJP, on the other hand, had contested on 137 seats separately, but won just one seat. Meanwhile, the JD-U and the BJP won 43 and 74 seats, respectively.
