Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s meeting with PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi has fuelled speculations of a tie-up between the BJP and the Mahadalit leader’s party. Following his fall-out with Nitish, Manjhi has been sending feelers to the BJP for an alliance to keep the JD(U) from coming back to power.
While there was no official word from Manjhi on the possibility of an alliance, he did suggest that he would tie-up with any party that was opposed to incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, as reported by The Times of India.
“Lalu-Nitish Tie-up Will Fail”
Though the former Bihar CM did get an invitation to join hands with Lalu Prasad, Manjhi remains “unsure” about that alliance. According to Mahadalit leader, RJD-JD(U) tie-up is destined to fail since RJD workers would not accept Nitish Kumar and the Janata Dal (U) has a small voter base.
If there is a need to ally with any party following the election, I will go with a formation that does not include Nitish Kumar.
– Jitan Ram Manjhi, Fmr Bihar CM
The former CM, who formed the Hindustan Awam Morcha after he left the JD(U), wields influence over the sizable Mahadalit voters who can tilt the scales in the Bihar elections due later this year.
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