Patna (Bihar) [India], September 15 : Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) national president Chirag Paswan on Sunday said the National Democratic Alliance is moving forward with the goal of making Bihar a developed state. He also accused the Opposition of wanting to confuse people with issues like the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and the Constitution.
"After PM Modi took oath for the third time, many developmental projects were implemented on the ground... The Opposition does not see all these things and only wants to confuse the public with issues like SIR and the Constitution," Paswan told reporters in Patna.
"This is the Opposition's thinking, and it has harmed Bihar. Anyway, all the parties of the NDA are moving forward with positive thinking towards the goal of making Bihar a developed state," he added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha founder Jitan Ram Manjhi reiterated his request to contest 20 seats in the upcoming assembly elections under the National Democratic Alliance, stating it is a "do or die" situation for HAM if the NDA doesn't allocate enough seats to his party.
He mentioned that his party has not set any target, but they need to have enough seats to gain recognition in the Vidhan Sabha.
"We haven't set any such target yet. But it is true that it is a do-or-die situation for us... We will request the NDA to allocate enough seats so that our party gains recognition in the Vidhan Sabha," Manjhi told reporters.
On September 3, Jitan Ram Manjhi demanded 20 seats in the forthcoming Bihar assembly elections.
"The common people and our workers demand that we need such seats that will save our dignity. If the NDA has sympathy for us in their hearts to grant recognition to our party, they should give us at least 20 seats in the Bihar legislative assembly election," Manjhi, the former Chief Minister of Bihar, told ANI.
Bihar elections are expected to be held in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, aims to continue its tenure in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, comprising the RJD, Congress, and left parties, seeks to oust Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131, with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2.
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