Bihar’s Sonbarsa MLA and JD(U) leader Ratnesh Sada is likely to be appointed as the state's new Minority Welfare minister. This comes hours after Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Jitan Ram Manjhi, tendered his resignation from Nitish Kumar's cabinet in Bihar on Tuesday. According to reports, Sada, a Dalit leader, has reached Patna from his constituency and likely to meet Chief Minister Kumar on Tuesday evening.
Notably, Sada won the Sonbarsha constituency on JD(U) ticket in the 2020 state Legislative Assembly election.
What Santosh Kumar Suman after resigning?
In an exclusive interview with India TV, Santosh Kumar Suman accused CM Kumar of pressuring his father to merge Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) with the JD(U). "We were being forced to merge with the JD (U)," he said.
On being questioned, if his party will attend the Opposition party meeting in Patna on June 23, he said, "...the existence of my party was under threat, I did this to protect it..," said Suman after resigning as a Bihar minister.
"When we were not even invited, when we were not even recognised as a party, how would we have been invited?" he added.
ALSO READ: Bihar: Jitan Ram Manjhi's son resigns from Nitish Kumar cabinet
Manjhi demands 5 seats for HAM in LS polls 2024
Earlier on Friday, Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi demanded at least five seats for his HAM, a junior partner in the state's ruling 'Mahagathbandhan', in next year's Lok Sabha polls. Santosh Kumar Suman, who is the national president of the HAM had also last week said that the party will not agree to an offer of less than five of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
It should be mentioned here that HAM is a regional party in Bihar which was founded by Jitan Ram Manjhi in 2015 and has a total of 4 seats in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.
