Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular [HAM(S)] joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after party founder Jitan Ram Manjhi and party president Santosh Kumar Suman met with union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The two leaders met Shah at his residence on Wednesday a few days after Manjhi announced to withdraw support from chief minister Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar.
тАЬIn principle, we are with the NDA from today. We will discuss various aspects of seat sharing and other matters as an alliance partner later,тАЭ said Suman, former minister and national president of HAM(S) in an interaction with a Hindi news channel in New Delhi after the meeting.
Also Read: Ex-Bihar CM Jitan Ram ManjhiтАЩs HAM withdraws support from Nitish govt
The move comes just a week after BiharтАЩs regional party snapped ties with the ruling grand alliance.
According to the party leaders, it was not agreeable for HAM(S) to merge with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U).
Moreover, the Bihar CM had accused Manjhi, who also was the former chief minister of the state, of тАЬspying on mahagathbandhan alliesтАЭ for the BJP in Bihar after on June 13 Suman had resigned from the Bihar cabinet indicating the growing bitterness of the HAM(S) with the ruling JD(U) and its allies in the grand alliance coalition.
Asked about future plans and the number of seats HAM(S) would demand from the BJP in Bihar, Suman said that all matters would be discussed later.
Also Read: Manjhi was BJP spy, HAM not a part of Bihar alliance: Nitish
тАЬRight now, we have just made a decision to join the BJP-led NDA,тАЭ he said.
Meanwhile, Manhji had claimed that the party was keen on contesting at least five seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections polls and identified around 15 seats where the party has the capability to name candidates.
The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance has 164 MLAs in the 243-seat Bihar assembly. HAM-S has a total of four MLAs in the House.
