In a show of strength ahead of assembly elections in the state, former chief minister of Bihar and founder of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) Jitan Ram Manjhi organised a Dalit rally in Patna on Friday.

A large number of the party leaders, workers, and their supporters arrived with elephants, horses and camels to attend the event.

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Manjhi has been demanding a fair share of seats from the NDA partners. He further strengthened his claim by successfully organising the rally.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary also made a brief visit to the rally. Nitish Kumar left the rally after greeting the party leaders for organising the event.

Addressing the rally, Manjhi raised several issues related to the Dalit community and asked the community men to join the political struggle for economic, social and political upliftment of the community.

Reminiscing Dr BR Ambedkar’s ideas for the community’s development, Manjhi said, “Politics is a key, development is a lock. If you do not take the key in your hand, the lock will not open. Dalit society has not been able to hold the key yet. You do not have a grip on politics.”

He said that the Bihar government should find out how many Class I and Class II officers from the Scheduled Caste are in service. If there are none, then efforts should be made to promote them by giving reservation.

He pointed out that there are 18 castes of Dalits in Bihar. Most of them are employed as Safai Karamchari. He demanded that the state government should form a Safai Karamchari Commission in Bihar on the lines of similar commissions in other states and the central government.

Manjhi’s son and President of the HAM party, Santosh Kumar Suman, said the Dalit community’s population is not less than 30 per cent of the total population in the state. But they do not hold the power. “You will get your rights only if you get united. That is why this rally has been organised. Assembly elections are going to be held later this year. In this election, we should take a collective decision and form the government,” he added.