Patna, Dec 25 Union Minister and patron of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), Jitan Ram Manjhi, has once again strongly asserted his demand for a Rajya Sabha seat, reiterating that the BJP leadership had promised his party representation in the Upper House.
After raising the issue in Gaya, Manjhi repeated his demand on Thursday in Jehanabad, where he was attending a private function.
Speaking to the media, Manjhi said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured HAM of two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat, which prompted him to advise his son and party leader Santosh Kumar Suman to stake a claim to a Rajya Sabha berth.
Manjhi said the promise has not been fulfilled so far, and he feels that his party is being underestimated within the NDA alliance.
“If the promise is not honoured, I will not remain silent,” he warned.
Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Manjhi said that HAM was allotted only one Lok Sabha seat, which he accepted in the spirit of alliance discipline.
Following his victory, he was inducted as a minister in the Narendra Modi-led central government, for which he expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister.
“I am a disciplined soldier of the NDA. I accepted one Lok Sabha seat and later became a Union Minister. For that, I am thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But according to the earlier promise, my party deserves a Rajya Sabha seat,” Manjhi said, justifying his demand.
He added that he had advised Santosh Kumar Suman to even give up his ministerial post if required, to secure a Rajya Sabha seat for the party.
Manjhi said he conveyed the same message in Gaya and reiterated it in Jehanabad.
Despite his strong remarks, Manjhi clarified that his faith in the NDA alliance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains firm.
It is noteworthy that five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar will fall vacant on April 9, 2026.
These include two seats each from JDU and RJD, and one seat currently held by Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha.
Jitan Ram Manjhi is staking a claim to one of these seats on behalf of HAM.
Taking a dig at Upendra Kushwaha's advice, Jitan Ram Manjhi said, “He himself became an MP, made his wife an MLA, and his son a minister, and now he's giving me advice.”
Manjhi’s repeated public statements have intensified political discussions within the NDA regarding seat-sharing and alliance commitments ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor