From Nitish’s Agent to Key Player – The Many Faces of Jitan Ram Manjhi | Explained news

The move, aimed at both maintaining Nitish’s influence and buying time, catapulted Manjhi, a low-profile Mahadalite loyalist, into national politics. Hitherto known mainly within party circles, Manjhi was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Minister of Bihar on May 20, 2014, and has since risen through the political ranks and is today the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. His political journey was one of perseverance, not fame.

The rise of Jitan Manjhi

Born in 1944 in Gaya, Bihar, Manjhi was first elected to the Bihar Assembly from Fatehpur in 1980 on a Congress(I) ticket. He served as Minister of State in the Chandrashekhar Singh government in 1984 and held positions in subsequent Congress governments till 1988.

In 1995, he joined the Janata Dal – a party in which he had lost five years earlier – and although he lost the assembly elections that year, he won the 1996 bypoll from Parachatti.

When Lalu Prasad Yadav engineered a split in the Janata Dal, he joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal and won the 2000 assembly elections from Bodh Gaya. In 2005, after losing to the National Democratic Alliance, he switched to Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and again contested unsuccessfully from Fatehpur, this time as the NDA candidate.

In the assembly elections held eight months later, Manjhi contested the battle and won from Parachati. In 2010, he moved to Makhdompur and retained the seat.

Maneuver
In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the political landscape in Bihar was in a state of flux. Narendra Modi, who was appointed chairman of the BJP’s campaign committee on June 10, 2013, was hugely popular and revitalized the party’s national ambitions.

With most opposition supporters either old, discredited or politically unconnected, Nitish Kumar, with his clean image and long tenure, seemed the only non-BJP leader capable of taking on Modi.

This calculus changed on June 16, 2013, when Nitish broke his seventeen-year alliance with the BJP over Modi’s promotion. All BJP ministers resigned from his government, and Nitish decided to contest the 2014 elections independently.

The gamble backfired spectacularly. The JD(U) won only two of the 40 Bihar Lok Sabha seats and one of five Assembly seats where bypolls were held. Accepting responsibility for the defeat, Nitish resigned on 20 May 2014.

What followed was a masterful political stroke. Realizing that the JD(U) could not control the state alone, Nitish orchestrated a transition that preserved his influence while buying time. He handed over the chief minister’s chair to Manjhi – a move reminiscent of Satish Prasad Singh’s five-day tenure to facilitate BP Mandal’s entry into the legislature.

Manjhi, who was sworn in on May 20, 2014, immediately threw himself into preparations for the 2015 Lok Sabha elections.

Rebellion
However, unlike Satish Prasad Singh, Manjhi refused to be a mere watchman. As 2015 approached, and Nitish began to assert himself again, Manjhi refused to cede the chair, creating a base among Mahadalit members in the state to consolidate their control.

His rebellion led to his expulsion from the JD(U) on 9 February 2015, triggering a political crisis. These tensions came to a head on 22 February 2015, when Manjhi resigned ahead of the confidence vote, paving the way for Nitish Kumar to return with the support of the Mahagathbandhan Party – an alliance between the RJD and the Congress.

As the Assembly elections approached, the BJP began courting Manjhi and his Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular (HAMS) party – the party he founded on May 8 that year. Realignments quickly followed: the NDA and Hamas on the one hand, and the Mahagathbandhan on the other.

In the November elections of that year, Hamas contested 21 of the 243 seats in Bihar. Manji stood from both Imamganj and Makhdompur but won only the former. He was the sole victor of Hamas, even though the party came in second place in several electoral districts. Their ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, won only 53 seats.

The Mahagathbandhan triumphed: the RJD won 80 seats and the JD(U) 71. Nitish returned as Prime Minister, supported by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD. Lalu’s sons joined the government – Tejashwi as Deputy Chief Minister and Tej Pratap as Minister.

The loss did not push Manji into obscurity. In July 2017, Nitish abruptly ended the Mahagathbandhan Party, realigned it with the BJP, and formed a new NDA government. Hamas, now part of the coalition, competed for seven seats in the 2020 elections and won four. Manjhi himself was not appointed to the Cabinet, but his bloc’s support consolidated Nitish’s majority.

This support has paid off: Manjhi’s son, Santosh Kumar Suman, has been sworn in as minister, and remains a member of the outgoing Nitish government.

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections were a national breakthrough for Manjhi. He contested from Gaya on a HAMS ticket under the NDA banner, and won comfortably. Prime Minister Modi appointed him as Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises – the oldest member of the council and the only minister in the current Union government born before independence.

Manjhi’s short tenure as Prime Minister yielded lasting dividends. He successfully carved out a distinct Mahadalit constituency, established a viable regional party, and secured legislative seats for his family members.

After Imamganj was vacated following his Lok Sabha win, Manjhi ensured that his daughter-in-law Deepa Manjhi won the seat in a by-poll. She is competing again in 2025. Deepa’s mother is also a HAMS candidate.

From caretaker leader to Union minister, Jitan Ram Manjhi embodies the fluid, personality-driven politics of Bihar. His journey underscores how class calculations, strategic defections, and sheer persistence can transform a political footnote into a major player.