Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has decided to leave the 'grand alliance' ahead of Assembly polls in the state.
The alliance, also known as the mahagathbandhan, includes Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) in Bihar.
What Did Manjhi’s Son Say?
"We were ignored in mahagathbandhan. They thought we have no potential. How long would we have tolerated? (I) don't think there was a meeting of the alliance's senior leaders in the last one to one-and-a-half years. It was lethal for the welfare of the poor. We decided to fight for their rights by leaving the alliance," Santosh Kumar Suman, an MLC and the son of Manjhi, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI on Thursday.
"We haven't decided the future course of action. We'll talk to our workers and our senior leaders will discuss. We might contest the election on our own or forge a new alliance. There can be a third front too," he added.
Elections Amid COVID-19
According to an India Today report, one of the friction points stemmed from HAM's demand of having a coordination committee to discuss seat-sharing not being met.
The elections in Bihar, expected to be held in October and November, would see the grand alliance squaring off against the ruling coalition of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) (JDU) and the BJP. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it's not clear as to how the elections will be carried out.
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