Patna (Bihar) [India], October 12 : Amid intense National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Bihar Assembly election, Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday reaffirmed his unwavering loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed confidence in the NDA's victory.
"I am heading to Patna now... By the way, let me tell you something I've said before and I'm saying again today... I, Jitan Ram Manjhi, will stand with the Honorable Prime Minister @narendramodiji until my last breath," Manjhi said in a post on X.
"There will be prosperity in Bihar, with Nitish, Modi ji's government will be there," he added.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Bihar, including state president Dilip Jaiswal and former provincial chiefs Samrat Choudhary and Mangal Pandey, are currently in Delhi engaged in meetings with the party's top leadership and alliance partners to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement.
Meanwhile, the BJP Central Election Committee has commenced meetings in the national capital to finalise candidate lists for the Bihar polls.
On Saturday, a key meeting of senior NDA leaders was held at the residence of BJP president and Union Minister JP Nadda. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister and Hidustan Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAM)(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, Bihar BJP in-charge Vinod Tawde, Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal, and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary were among the leaders who attended the meeting.
In a separate development, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) convened a central parliamentary board meeting in Delhi to strategise ahead of the elections. Party MP Shambhavi Chaudhary stated the meeting was chaired by party chief Chirag Paswan, who will take the final decision on seat sharing.
Meanwhile, Independent MP from Purnea, Pappu Yadav, on Sunday underscored the importance of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) and described the Bihar Assembly polls as a contest between "destruction" and "development".
Speaking to reporters, Pappu Yadav said, "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lives according to the honour of his party and its workers. The principle of alliance is paramount, whether it is a small party or a large one. The alliance is important, the people of Bihar are important, and the victory of the INDIA alliance is important; seats are not important. This election is based on destruction versus development... This election will be fought on the strength of Rahul Gandhi's love, development, and struggle."
Polling for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, while counting of votes will take place on November 14.
The NDA will face the Opposition's INDIA bloc in the upcoming elections. The INDIA bloc comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Tejashwi Yadav, the Congress, the CPI(ML) Liberation, the CPI, the CPI(M), and the Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahani.
This year's elections will also mark the entry of political strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party into Bihar's electoral arena.