Patna: Voting for the Rajya Sabha elections was underway in the Bihar legislative assembly on Monday when an unexpected development briefly intensified political speculation. Deepa Manjhi, the daughter-in-law of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Jyoti Manjhi, his co-in-law, were seen leaving the cabin of opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav inside the assembly complex.
The two leaders had arrived at the assembly to cast their votes but were later photographed exiting Yadav’s chamber, accompanied by Akhtarul Iman, the state president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, along with several legislators from the party. The images circulated widely among political circles and prompted speculation about possible cross-camp discussions during the ongoing polling.
The reason for the meeting remains unclear, and neither Deepa Manjhi nor Jyoti Manjhi publicly commented on the visit. Their presence in Yadav’s cabin during the voting process, however, briefly raised questions about potential shifts in political alignments.
Meanwhile, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) camp said that around 200 legislators had already cast their votes. At the same time, Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary was holding a meeting in his chamber with several NDA legislators, including Dilip Jaiswal, Raju Tiwari, Sunil Kumar Pintoo and Manoj Sharma.
Leaders of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), the party led by Jitan Ram Manjhi, downplayed the development. Party legislator Madhav Anand said the meeting made “no difference whatsoever”, dismissing suggestions of any political upset.
The party’s state president Alok Singh also rejected speculation of back-channel negotiations, saying there was “no question of any political manoeuvring” and that no deal had been struck.
Leaders from the party said they remained confident that the alliance would secure victory on all five Rajya Sabha seats being contested from the state.
