<p>Patna: Union minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/jitan-ram-manjhi">Jitan Ram Manjhi</a> on Monday made it clear that he was "begging and not making a claim" that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) be given a respectable number of seats by the NDA in the upcoming assembly polls.</p><p>Manjhi made the remark in response to queries from journalists about a statement he had made in his Lok Sabha constituency of Gaya the previous day.</p><p>"Please do not take my words in the wrong light. I consider it a blot (kalank) that even after 10 years of establishment, HAM remains an unrecognised party. I have been helping the NDA for long. So, I am begging the NDA leaders (bheekh maang rahe hain) and not making a claim," Manjhi said.</p>.It is do or die for my party in Bihar polls: Jitan Ram Manjhi.<p>When asked if he had a figure in mind when he spoke of a "respectable share", the 80-year-old leader said, "It could be anything. It could be 20 seats. It could also be 15."</p><p>Notably, on Sunday, Manjhi had said he viewed the upcoming polls as a "do-or-die situation” for the HAM, which needed "eight MLAs" in the 243-strong state assembly or six per cent of the total votes in order to become a recognised party.</p><p>Although the former <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bihar">Bihar</a> chief minister has been in and out of the NDA since he floated his own party in 2015, he has contested the past couple of assembly elections as a constituent of the BJP-led coalition. In 2020, his party had contested seven seats, out of which it won four.</p><p>Meanwhile, the main opposition party, RJD, taunted Manjhi, a former ally, for "making a climbdown in just 24 hours".</p><p>"Everybody, including Manjhi himself, knows what is the standing of the HAM. He is enjoying more than what would have been his due share. His son Santosh Kumar Suman has been a minister in the Nitish Kumar government in the state. He became a Union minister himself last year when he won a Lok Sabha election for the first time," RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed said.</p>
<p>Patna: Union minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/jitan-ram-manjhi">Jitan Ram Manjhi</a> on Monday made it clear that he was "begging and not making a claim" that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) be given a respectable number of seats by the NDA in the upcoming assembly polls.</p><p>Manjhi made the remark in response to queries from journalists about a statement he had made in his Lok Sabha constituency of Gaya the previous day.</p><p>"Please do not take my words in the wrong light. I consider it a blot (kalank) that even after 10 years of establishment, HAM remains an unrecognised party. I have been helping the NDA for long. So, I am begging the NDA leaders (bheekh maang rahe hain) and not making a claim," Manjhi said.</p>.It is do or die for my party in Bihar polls: Jitan Ram Manjhi.<p>When asked if he had a figure in mind when he spoke of a "respectable share", the 80-year-old leader said, "It could be anything. It could be 20 seats. It could also be 15."</p><p>Notably, on Sunday, Manjhi had said he viewed the upcoming polls as a "do-or-die situation” for the HAM, which needed "eight MLAs" in the 243-strong state assembly or six per cent of the total votes in order to become a recognised party.</p><p>Although the former <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bihar">Bihar</a> chief minister has been in and out of the NDA since he floated his own party in 2015, he has contested the past couple of assembly elections as a constituent of the BJP-led coalition. In 2020, his party had contested seven seats, out of which it won four.</p><p>Meanwhile, the main opposition party, RJD, taunted Manjhi, a former ally, for "making a climbdown in just 24 hours".</p><p>"Everybody, including Manjhi himself, knows what is the standing of the HAM. He is enjoying more than what would have been his due share. His son Santosh Kumar Suman has been a minister in the Nitish Kumar government in the state. He became a Union minister himself last year when he won a Lok Sabha election for the first time," RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed said.</p>