Hindustani Awam Morcha

Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)
Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)
Abbreviation	HAM(S)
President	Santosh Kumar Suman
Founder	Jitan Ram Manjhi
Founded	8 May 2015 (8 years ago)
Split from	Janata Dal (United)
Headquarters	12, Strand Rd, Rajbansi Nagar, Patna, Bihar 800015
Ideology	Secularism
Colours
ECI Status	Bihar (State Party)
Alliance	NDA (2015-2017,2020–2022, 2023 – present); I.N.D.I.A (2018–2020, 2022–2023); MGB (Bihar) (2022–2023);
Seats in Bihar Legislative Assembly	4 / 243
Seats in Bihar Legislative Council	1 / 75
Election symbol
	Politics of India; Political parties; Elections;

In Bihar, this party is also a natural Allies of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) similar to Janata Dal (United). It received a new election symbol, the wok, for the Bihar Assembly election in 2020.

Formation

It was launched formally on 8 May 2015 by former Chief Minister of Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjhi, who left the Janata Dal (United) party along with 18 others to form Hindustani Awam Morcha following the 2015 Bihar political crisis. The party added "Secular" to its name in June 2015, becoming Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular). In July 2015, the Election Commission recognised HAM(S) as a political party. The election symbol of the party is a wok.

History

In July 2015, the party joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and contested 21 seats, with some additional members contesting on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket in Bihar. On 18 September 2015, HAM(S) announced its first list of 13 candidates with Manjhi contesting from Makhdumpur and Imamganj.

The party ended up winning only in Imamganj with Manjhi losing in Makhdumpur.

In the previous election,^[which?] the alliance was led by the BJP alongside three smaller allies, namely the Lok Janshakti Party, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and HAM(S), while Janata Dal (United) had contested as part of the Mahagathbandan opposition party. In 2017, Janata Dal (United) switched allegiance, which caused the Mahagathbandan government to dissolve and the NDA to come into power. In 2018, HAM(S) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party left the alliance.

During the campaigning phase in August 2020, the alliance was re-joined National Democratic Alliance. The party won four seats in the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election and Manjhi's son Santosh Suman was made a minister in Nitish Kumar's cabinet.

Prominent members

Jitan Ram Manjhi, founding member and former Chief Minister of Bihar, Member of Legislative Assembly from Imamganj.
Santosh Suman Manjhi, Minister of Irrigation and SC ST Welfare in the Government of Bihar, and Member of Legislative Council of Bihar.

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha elections

Lok Sabha term	Indian general election	Seats contested	Seats won	Votes polled	Vote %	Ref.
17th Lok Sabha	2019	3	0		0.2

Bihar Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha term	General election	Seats contested	Seats won	Votes polled	Vote %	Ref.
16th Vidhan Sabha of Bihar	2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election	21	1	864,856	2.3
17th Vidhan Sabha of Bihar	2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election	7	4	375,564	0.89

List of Members of Legislative Assembly in Bihar

No.	Name	Constituency	Year elected
1	Jitan Ram Manjhi	Imamganj	2020
2	Jyoti Devi	Barachatti	2020
3	Anil Kumar	Tikari	2020
4	Prafull Kumar Manjhi	Sikandra	2020

List of Members of Legislative Council of Bihar

Name	Year of appointment	Year of retirement
Santosh Suman Manjhi	2018	To till

References