Jitan Ram Manjhi Pens Poem to Demand 15 Seats for HAM in Bihar Polls

Patna (The Uttam Hindu): Even after the announcement of the Bihar Assembly elections, both political alliances continue to face hurdles over seat-sharing arrangements. Despite claims of unity and mutual understanding, no official announcement has been made so far. Meanwhile, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has expressed his party’s seat demand through a poetic post on social media platform X. It is being interpreted as his way of asking for 15 assembly seats for his party.

Posting in Hindi, Manjhi wrote:

“If justice is done, then give us half;

If there’s an obstacle, give us just 15 grams.

Keep the rest of your land intact,

We shall be content and won’t raise a storm.”

This poetic expression is seen as a symbolic reference to 15 seats. Manjhi has consistently been demanding a “respectable” number of seats for his party within the NDA.

Earlier, BJP leaders and Bihar election in-charges — Dharmendra Pradhan, Vinod Tawde, and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary — had met Manjhi to discuss seat-sharing details.

In a parallel move, Chirag Paswan, chief of LJP (Ram Vilas), also shared a post quoting his late father Ram Vilas Paswan:

“My father always said – ‘Do not commit injustice, do not tolerate it either. Learn to die if you wish to live, and fight at every step.’”

The Election Commission has scheduled the Bihar Assembly polls after Chhath Puja. Voting for the first phase will take place on November 6, the second phase on November 11, and counting of votes on November 14. Several political parties, including JDU and RJD, had requested the EC to schedule the elections after Chhath Puja.