Manjhi's HAM quits NDA: Does it affect Bihar's political, caste equations?

Manjhi has begun talking about contesting 50 seats in the assembly elections

The Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), led by a former chief minister and Dalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, has quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led electoral alliance. What does the move mean in Bihar politics? Does it even matter in Bihar’s complex political and caste equations?

In the old days when Jitan Kumar Manjhi and Nitish Kumar were together in the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Kumar chose Manjhi as his successor as chief minister. It was a difficult time. The JD-U had performed badly in the 2014 general elections and Kumar knew that unless he managed