Manjhi elected HAM's president, resigns from JD-U

Patna: Jitan Ram Manjhi, former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha's leader, was elected national president of the party after resigning on Tuesday from the primary membership of the JD-U and from the Bihar assembly.

"Manjhi has formally resigned from JD-U's primary membership and as a legislator. He was unanimously elected national president of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in a meeting of the national executive here," HAM's spokesperson Danish Rizwan said here.

Manjhi's HAM has joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.

He has pledged to work to ensure the defeat of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal.

His resignation came ahead of the HAM's national executive meet here on Tuesday to chalk out the party's strategy for the polls.