Bihar Assembly polls: BJP insulting 'mahadalit' Manjhi by giving only 20 seats, says JD(U)

New Delhi: Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is insulting a 'mahadalit' by giving Jitan Ram Manhji's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) just 20 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls.

"Under JD (U), Manjhi was enjoying the support of 140 MLAs. Now, he has got only 20 seats under the NDA. It's an insult of a Mahadalit," Tyagi told ANI here.

"Bihar polls are focused around Nitish Kumar in a similar fashion the Lok Sabha polls focused around Narendra Modi in 2014. This the first time that the NDA is going to fight elections in Bihar and haven't declared a captain yet. Nobody is able to digest the fact the Prime Minister Modi is the captain," Tyagi added.

Tyagi also said that his party had made Jitan Ram Manjhi the chief minister of Bihar whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) treated him like ' a beggar'.

"We made Jitan Ram Manjhi the state's chief minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party treated him like a beggar," he said.

Meanwhile, the seat sharing deal was finalized between BJP chief Amit Shah and Jitan Ram Manjhi today.

The BJP will contest 160 of the 243 seats in Bihar, Paswan's Lok Jan Shakti Party will contest 40,Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party will contest 23 seats and Jitan Ram Manhji's Hindustani Awaam Morcha(HAM) party will contest 20.

The term of the 243-member Bihar Assembly comes to an end on November 29. The polls in the state will begin on October 12 and conclude on November 5. Counting of votes will take place on November 8.