New Delhi: Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi and announced his return to the NDA.
The meeting comes just two days after his party withdrew support to the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar, reported news agency ANI.
"From today, we are an NDA partner. We have agreed to support the NDA and the NDA is also ready to be with us. This is what we discussed today," Manjhi told reporters.
Notably, the HAM withdrew support to the Grand Alliance government comprising the Congress, the RJD, and the JD(U) in Bihar on Monday and a letter to the effect was handed over to Governor Rajendra Arlekar.
Manjhi, who met the governor along with his son Santosh Suman, the national president of the HAM, said he will be in Delhi for the next few days during which he will try to meet leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including Shah, to explore future options, reported PTI.
"If NDA approaches us we will talk to them. We will also look for third-front possibilities... After three-four days we will inform the people of our final decision," Manjhi's son Santosh said, reported ANI.
Kumar had recently accused Manjhi, a former Bihar chief minister, of "spying on the Mahagathbandhan allies" for the benefit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and said his exit was good riddance.
The chief minister had also said Manjhi wanted to be part of a June 23 meeting of opposition parties, but he was apprehensive that the latter might leak details of the conclave to the BJP.
HAM's decision came days before the June 23 meeting of opposition parties in Patna for which groundwork had been done by Nitish Kumar for the past several months.
The meeting is expected to identify common issues as part of efforts to forge opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.