Bihar Assembly elections: Support to BJP is ‘unconditional’, says Jitan Ram Manjhi
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Bihar polls: Former Bihar chief minister and Mahadalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi said on Sunday that his support to the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar was unconditional.
Talking to ANI he said, “We are (Hindustani Awam Morcha and the BJP) are ready to give unconditional support to each other.
He also said that he would decide by June 25-26 whether he would fight the Assembly elections or not.
The BJP had on Thursday received a shot in the arm ahead of the high-stakes Bihar assembly elections, with Manjhi announcing a tie-up with it to defeat the “unholy” alliance of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.
Making the announcement after a meeting with BJP President Amit Shah, Manjhi had said a strong alliance was needed to defeat the ‘Janata Parivar’ in the upcoming Assembly elections.
“In Bihar, an unholy alliance between Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad has been formed. I spoke to Amit Shah in this context. We have to work together to prevent Lalu and Nitish from coming to power,” Manjhi had told reporters after the 30-minute meeting with the BJP chief, as per PTI.
The Mahadalit leader was being wooed by RJD chief Lalu Prasad but he had made it clear he would not be part of any formation which includes his bete noire Nitish Kumar, who ousted him as CM.
Manjhi said he had held rallies across the state where the “consensus” was to get “rid” of the Lalu-Nitish combine.
“Yadavs feel that Lalu has betrayed them by joining hands with Nitish, who put thousands of Yadavs behind bars on petty charges. They no longer think that Lalu is their leader. Under these circumstances I felt that an alternative was needed,” he had said.
The former CM had said he will continue to run Hindustani Awam Morcha and it would become “a part and parcel” of NDA to “destroy” the Lalu-Nitish alliance.
Asked about seat-sharing agreement with BJP, he had then said said, “It has been decided that we will go to whatever extent possible to help each other. We have not held any seat-sharing discussion. Our core committee will meet on June 15 and take a decision there. Our preparations are in all 243 seats.”
On whether there will be a CM candidate of the alliance, he had said, “It will be better if the name of CM is announced after the election.”
He had noted that BJP had earlier decided not to project anyone as its chief ministerial candidate and it will take a call on the issue.
Courtesy: Zee Media Bureau
