Addressing the media on Monday, Founder of Hindustani Awam Morcha, Jitan Ram Manjhi said that his party will contest from Nathdwara Vidhan sabha seat in Bhagalpur under all circumstances.
Nathdwara seat fell vacant when the sitting JD(U) MLA Ajay Mandal was elected to the Lok Sabha recently. Bihar will go to by-polls fo five Assembly segments and Samastipur Lok Sabha constituency.
The announcement by the leader comes as a surprise since the Mahgathbandhan alliance has not yet taken any decision on the upcoming by-polls formally. Former Chief Minister of the Bihar state, Manjhi also apprised the media that their first decision was to contest from Kishanganj seat. However, they had to forego their wish since it was a sitting seat of their ally- Congress.
Previously, Jitan Ram Manjhi has also shown his interest in the post of the Chief Minister. He had mentioned the political inexperience of Tejashwi Yadav who is almost confirmed as a chief ministerial candidate from Rashtriya Janata Dal.
By-poll details-
Besides Nathdwara and Kishanganj, by-polls will happen for Simaria Bakhtiyarpur, Daraunda, and Belhar assembly segments too. Samastipur parliamentary constituency will also go for the by-poll.
Kishanganj seat fell empty because its MLA Mohammed Jawed was elected to Lok Sabha. Simaria Bakhtiyarpur, Darauanda, and Belhar were earlier held by Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Kavita Singh, and Giridhari Yadav respectively. All of them are the leaders of the JD(U) party.
Samstipur constituency seat fell vacant owing to the death of second-time MLA Ram Chandra Paswan.
The mentioned seats will go to polls on October 21. Counting of votes will take place on October 24.
What is Mahagathbandhan?
“Mahagathbandhan” is a multi-party alliance that came together for contesting the polls in the Bihar state. The coalition comprises of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress party, RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party), HAM (Hindustani Awam Morcha) and VIP (Vikassheel Insaan Party). However, the group suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.
TIW’s Take-
The continuous surprises thrown by Jitan Ram Manjhi seems to convey that all is not well within the Mahagathbandhan Alliance. The vacillating attitude of Manjhi can be seen as his disappointment over the failure of grouping oin meeting his expectations.
Bihar politics is very famous for the surprising turn of events. Therefore it is expected that the forthcoming by-polls will give be an interesting episode. On one side, where Mahgathbandhan alliance can be seen as a renewed hope for Bihar, another side iterated by Manjhi is presenting a opposite and dismal picture of the grouping.