Jitan Ram Manjhi will be NDA candidate from Gaya Lok Sabha seat, party says

Jitan Manjhi is the MLA of Imamganj in Gaya district (File)

Patna:

Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday announced that his Hindustani Awam Morcha will be removed from the reserved Gaya Lok Sabha Lok Sabha) seat as NDA candidate.

According to a press release issued by the party’s central office in Gaya, Mr. Manjhi’s candidacy was approved by his son and state minister Santosh Suman, the state leader of the party founded by his father. President.

Notably, the NDA announced the seat allocation package for Bihar earlier this week, in which the BJP secured the largest share of 17 seats, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar )’s JD(U) is close behind and will contest 16 seats.

Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) got five seats, Mr Manjhi’s party got Gaya and Karakat was allotted to former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

Mr. Manjhi is the MLA from Imamganj, which is located in Gaya district but falls under the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Just months away from turning 80, the veteran leader has recently shown reluctance to stand in direct elections and expressed a desire to be considered for a seat in the Bundestag or as governor.

The day he announced his candidacy, the opposition RJD gave away tickets to all four seats, including the first phase of polling scheduled to be held in Gaya.

Former minister Kumar Sarvajeet is the 49-year-old sitting MP from Bodh Gaya and the son of late Gaya MP Rajesh Kumar, RJD president Lalu Prasad Lalu Prasad) who gave him a party ticket for the Lok Sabha seat.

While this will be Sarvajeet’s first assembly election, Mr Manjhi has been trying his luck in Gaya since 2014, when he was the JD(U) candidate but ended up finishing third.

In 2019, he fought for his party’s symbol but lost to the JD(U) winner by more than 1.5 lakh votes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)