Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Yadav has invited former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to join the proposed Janata Parivar ahead of Assembly elections in the state. Manjhi has formed his own political outfit called Hindustani Awam Morcha after he was expelled from the Janata Dal United for refusing to vacate the chief minister's post for one-time mentor Nitish Kumar.
Lalu's invitation is seen as a ploy to stop Manjhi from joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance bandwagon in Bihar. So far Nitish Kumar has not reacted to Lalu’s move.
Nitish Kumar had made Manjhi the CM in May 2014 after JDU's crushing defeat in Lok Sabha elections. But Manjhi, who belongs to the Mushahar community which belongs to poorest section of the society in the state, started to court controversy soon after taking office by his comments which targeted the upper castes.
He later refused to make way for Nitish Kumar to take over as Bihar CM in early 2015 following which he was his supporters were expelled from the JDU. After claiming the support of a majority of JDU MLAs Manjhi finally refused to seek a vote of confidence and resigned on February 20, 2015.
Nitish Kumar took over as Bihar CM for the fourth time on February 22, 2015.
Bihar is likely to go to elections in September-October 2015. The term of the current Assembly ends on November 29, 2015.
The state will witness a direct contest between the NDA and Janata Parivar of Lalu and Nitish. Aparty from the BJP, the NDA also has Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.
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