Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said he was “requesting, not demanding” that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) be allotted a “respectable number” of seats, warning that his party might skip the upcoming assembly polls otherwise.
“It will be a humiliation for me and my party if we are not given at least 15 seats. If we contest 15, we can win 8–9 and become a recognised party,” said Manjhi, whose HAM remains unrecognised even after a decade of its formation. He added, “If we don’t get a respectable share, we may not contest, but we will still work for the NDA.”
“हो न्याय अगर तो आधा दो,
यदि उसमें भी कोई बाधा हो,
तो दे दो केवल 15 ग्राम,
रखो अपनी धरती तमाम,
HAM वही ख़ुशी से खाएंगें,
परिजन पे असी ना उठाएँगे”— Jitan Ram Manjhi (@jitanrmanjhi) October 8, 2025
Meanwhile, another NDA constituent — Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) — which had earlier agreed to contest around 20–22 seats, is now demanding at least 25 more. Senior LJP (RV) leaders told PTI that the party deserves about 45 seats.
Paswan, who visited his late father Ram Vilas Paswan’s birthplace in Khagaria on Wednesday, said, “Things will be finalised very soon.”
Assembly elections in Bihar will be held on November 6 and 11, with counting scheduled for November 14.
While the BJP’s Election Committee met in Patna to finalise seat-sharing and candidate lists, senior leaders including Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Vinod Tawde held discussions with state leaders and allies, including Manjhi.
In the 2020 assembly elections, Paswan’s party broke away from the NDA and fought independently — winning only one seat but inflicting heavy losses on JD(U), which ended up with its worst tally in 20 years at 43 seats.
