New Political Alliance On Cards In Bihar? Jitan Manjhi's Son Resigns From Nitish Cabinet

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a new political development is taking shape in Bihar. In a sudden move, Jitan Ram Manjhi's son and Bihar minister for SC and ST welfare, Santosh Suman resigned from the Nitish Kumar cabinet. Former Bihar CM Manjhi's party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is an alliance partner of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar that includes Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United). 

Santosh Suman said that he has sent his resignation to the Chief Minister. Suman said that his party received a proposal to merge with the JDU but the HAM MLAs and party workers are against the merger. He said that the merger proposal came from the JDU. Suman said that while he respects the sentiments of JDU, his party (HAM) was formed to fight for some issues and thus they will continue their fight and have chosen the path of struggle. 

Suman is currently the national president of HAM. However, his resignation or withdrawal of the HAM from the Mahagathbandhan would not affect the Nitish Government as the HAM only has four MLAs. 

Speaking to the media, Suman said that he resigned to save his party as its existence was under threat in the Mahagathbandhan. "...the existence of my party was under threat, I did this to protect my party..," said Suman. When asked about whether he would attend the opposition party's meeting, Suman said, "When we were not even invited, when we were not even recognised as a party, how would we participate in the meeting?"

#WATCH | "...the existence of my party was under threat, I did this to protect it..," says HAM leader Santosh Kumar Suman after resigning as a Bihar minister.

"When we were not even invited, when we were not even recognised as a party, how would we have been invited?" he says… https://t.co/m2C4yERYRa pic.twitter.com/T3nJx1LtTG

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2023

On the question of going to the BJP-led NDA, Santosh Kumar Suman said that no decision has been taken on this yet and the HAM can contest upcoming elections alone as well. He said that any future decision will be taken after consulting all party members. He further said that while the HAM wanted to stay in the alliance, some big parties were against it. 

On Monday itself, Jitan Ram Manjhi had announced not to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He has also expressed displeasure over not getting the invitation for the opposition parties meeting.