Manjhi's party may leave NDA to garner Muslim support

Over a month after the humiliating defeat of the National Democratic Alliance in the Bihar assembly polls, there is a bad news for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state. Its ally in Bihar and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha is likely to desert the saffron fold.

HAM's Bihar president Brishen Patel told reporters on Wednesday that his party can snap the alliance from the BJP.

"Look, Muslims and other minorities are not with the BJP. Muslims have strong reservations about the BJP. But we strongly feel that the support of minorities is important. Therefore, the HAM will try to gain support of the Muslims and, if it is decided unanimously, HAM may leave the NDA," Patel, a former minister said.

However, HAM's national president Jitan Ram Manjhi has not made any remarks on this issue so far.

Currently, the BJP has three allies in Bihar -- the HAM, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.

In the Bihar assembly polls which concluded last month, BJP-led NDA won 58 of 243 assembly seats.

The BJP won 53 seats, the LJP and RLSP two each and the HAM could win only one seat.