Small parties in big trouble ahead of Bihar polls

As Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former Chief Minister and the president of Hindustan Awam Morcha, Secular (HAMS), this week once again extended deadline of his “ultimatum” without taking a decision on his continuation in the RJD-led Grand alliance, it only buttressed how smaller parties are in big trouble in Bihar in the run-up to the assembly polls.

“Unlike many other states where smaller parties call the shots on election eve, Bihar has been giving decisive verdicts since November 2005. Since then, the state has seen six elections—three each for assembly and Lok Sabha. And the state electorates have given clear mandates in all these elections, leaving no room for the smaller parties to claim their pound of flesh,” said a senior JD-U leader.

A senior RJD leader also admitted that the smaller parties like HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which are in the RJD-led grand alliance, are facing the heat.

“The RJD is unwilling to pander to their whims this time. RJD contested just 19 of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats in the last year’s Lok Sabha polls just to accommodate the smaller parties as alliance partners. However, this time it is a strategy shift. The party will contest at least 150 of the 243 assembly seats in Bihar. The message to smaller allies are clear—take it what we offer you or move aside,” said a senior RJD leader, seeking anonymity.

Political sources in both HAMS and RLSP hint that the two leaders —Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha are actively considering their merger to bigger parties as one of the options. In 2015 assembly polls, the HAMS had contested 21 seats but could win just one. RLSP also contested from 23 seats but could win just 2. Now, though both HAMS and RLSP want a higher number of assembly seats to contest as grand alliance constituents, the RJD is clearly unwilling to oblige them.

Incidentally, both Manjhi and Kushwaha were with NDA in 2015 assembly polls, but they switched over to Grand alliance camp for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — a decision that boomeranged, and the two parties couldn’t win a single seat.

If Manjhi and Kushwaha are struggling in Grand alliance, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party is on a sticky wicket in the NDA. Having contested 42 assembly seats in 2015, the party could win just two. Now, with BJP and JD-U looking inclined to distribute seats between them before offering LJP from their leftovers, the LJP is seething. Though Paswan’s son Chirag has adopted a tough posture, sources believe he will eventually fall in line, as he does not seem to have many options left beyond NDA.