Former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) patron Jitan Ram Manjhi' son Santosh Manjhi quit the Bihar cabinet on Tuesday ahead of the Mahagathbandhan meeting, scheduled to take place on June 23. Confirming the development, HAM national spokesperson Shyamsundar Sharan said that Santosh handed over the resignation letter to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. According to Santosh, he resigned from the cabinet after Janata Dal United's proposal of merger. "When we spoke to our workers and MLAs, everyone refused for the merger. We respect the sentiments of JDU, but our party has also been formed on some issues," he said.
"Therefore it was better that we choose the path of struggle, so we rejected the proposal of merger," he added.
On being asked to go with NDA, Santosh said no decision has been taken in this regard, adding a decision will be taken after discussing with others.
In a veiled reference to JD(U) and RJD, Santosh alleged that the "major" parties want to end his party's existence and that is why he walked out of the alliance. "Our party has separated itself from the Mahagathbandhan. We wanted to remain but the major parties do not want to keep us and want to end the existence of the party, so we have also decided to break away from the alliance," he said.