Bihar's Gaya: A battleground of prestige for NDA candidate Jitan Ram Manjhi

Gaya goes to poll in Phase 1 of Lok Sabha 2024 elections, on April 19

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It is now a battle of prestige for 79-year-old Jitan Ram Manjhi, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from Bihar’s Gaya, a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes. Manjhi, the founder of Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) and a former chief minister of Bihar, has thrown his hat into the ring for the fourth time after three failures — 1991 from Congress, 2014 from Janata Dal, and 2019 while representing the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan).

In 1991, Manjhi’s first attempt to win the Gaya Lok Sabha constituency was crushed by Janata Dal’s Rajesh Kumar who won by over 50 per cent votes. Fast forward to 2024, Manjhi is now pitted against Kumar’s son, Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Kumar Sarvjeet. He is also a sitting legislator from the Bodh Gaya Assembly seat but has a challenge at hand to fight the Narendra Modi-factor.

The last time Congress won the Gaya seat was in 1984 and the RJD in 2004. The BJP clinched victory in 2009 and 2014, and the Janata Dal (United) in 2019. However, at least since 1999, a member of the Manjhi community has represented the seat.

At a political rally in Gaya on April 16, a constituency with over 30 per cent of voters from the Scheduled Castes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the Opposition’s allegations that the RSS and BJP intended to change the Constitution. He said that Jitan Ram Manjhi is a witness to how the Congress and the RJD exploited the Dalits, oppressed, and backward classes for their political convenience, and that he was indebted to BR Ambedkar’s Constitution which allowed a person with humble origins like himself to become the prime minister of the country.