Getting even: Manjhi sets up battle royale against Nitish confidante in Imamganj

For former Janata Dal (United) chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, the upcoming Bihar polls is more than just about winning a seat in the state assembly. Manjhi will not just be contesting on a Hindustan Awam Morcha ticket from the Imamganj seat, but he will be looking to beat Uday Narayan Chaudhary, the Speaker of the Assembly who thwarted his attempts to stay on as chief minister. The former chief minister had earlier announced his candidature from the Makhdumpur seat which is a reserved one but has now thrown in his hat for the Imamganj seat which is also a reserved seat, Daily Mail reported. [caption id=“attachment_2441124” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ibnlive image[/caption] The seat Manjhi is contesting is in addition to the 20 seats that his party will be contesting in the upcoming state poll. While he was chief minister, Manjhi had reportedly attempted to bring up a murder case in which Chaudhary was alleged of being complicit, and the fact was brought up by his party spokesperson while announcing the former chief minister’s candidature. “He has been involved in criminal activities and his name has also surfaced in an MP murder case, despite which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar got him elected as the Speaker,” Danish Rizwan said. But the former chief minister will have anything but a walkover. Chaudhary, a member of the Passi caste which is also classified as a Mahadalit one, is a six-term MLA from the seat, reports The Times of India. Manjhi and Chaudhary have shared a not-so-pleasant past. According to an Indian Express report, Chaudhary was overlooked by Nitish when he was seeking for a replacement as chief minister after the 2014 General Election and picked Manjhi. But when the confidence vote for Manjhi came up in February, Chaudhary had the last laugh when he disqualified the MLAs who were backing him. After he resigned as chief minister, Manjhi reportedly vowed not to go to the Assembly “as long as Chaudhary is Speaker”. Chaudhary has claimed to have brought development to a constituency that has been affected by Naxal violence. In an interview to The Indian Express, Chaudhary acknowledged that there had been a shift in the loyalties of some of the Muslim voters in the constituency towards the BJP-LJP-HAM alliance, but said it didn’t worry him. Manjhi is hoping to take him on by capitalising on his own Musahar caste status and by hoping that the minority votes in the region are enough to carry him to victory. If he does pull it off, few victories will have been as sweet as this one.