Former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) President Jitan Ram Manjhi. File | Photo credit: Ranjeet Kumar
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday (Dec 19, 2025) faced charges of “vote rigging” after a video of him purportedly claiming to have ensured the victory of the other party’s candidate in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections went viral. However, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) founder denied the allegations and said the video was “edited”.
In the video, Mr Manjhi is reportedly heard saying in Magahi language, “In 2020 (Anil Kumar) lost the election by 2,700 votes and called me for a solution. So I tried and won.” Mr. Kumar was the party’s candidate from the Tikari Assembly seat.
He is further heard saying, “This time (2025 election) he lost the seat by 1,600 votes. In 2020, there was a district judge named Abhishek Singh who is now posted in Tripura. He said, ‘Sir, last time you were behind by 2,700 votes but we made you win but this time you lost by only 1,600.’ wrong?”
Mr. Manjhi further says that he would have ensured Mr. Kumar’s victory this time too if the candidate had informed him in time.
The former chief minister reportedly delivered a speech in Gaya on December 14 at a function for HAM(S) MLA Jyoti Devi, who was elected from Barachatti Assembly constituency. However, contrary to his claim, according to the Election Commission’s website, it was Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Ajay Kumar who emerged as the winner of the 2020 Tikari election, defeating Mr. Kumar by a margin of 2,058 votes.
RJD shared the video on its X (formerly Twitter) page. “This is Jitan Ram Manjhi Ji, a Cabinet Minister of the Government of India, who from an open public platform has given a resounding slap to a petty, servile commissioner like Thugesh Kumar (referring to India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar) and is exposing the royal formula for winning elections through manipulation of results and machinery,” it read.
He further said, “It reveals how his party, despite losing by 2,700 votes in 2020, still managed to win the Tikari seat and how Abhishek Singh – the then corrupt, casteist, incompetent, unfit and illegitimate District Magistrate, sent on deputation to Bihar in 2006 from Tripuragothdreath’s Tripurnekathdream batch, helped rig the election for their benefit.”
“This is what democracy looks like? This is the true face of Mr. Modi’s artificial popularity. These people conspired to carry out a failed attempt to politically assassinate a young leader like Tejashwi Yadav in both elections,” the party said in a post.
It further questioned how long the truth can be hidden and how long they can win fake elections with the help of corrupt officials.
Some people who tampered with one of my videos and made it viral think they are defaming Musahar K Lal.
I want to tell such people that now no one can insult or deceive Musahar’s son.
“Those who spit in the sky forget that you are spitting in the sky…
— Jitan Ram Manjhi (@jitanrmanjhi) December 18, 2025
Responding to the allegations, Mr. Manjhi posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Some people who manipulated one of my videos to go viral think they can defame Musahar’s son (community). I want to tell such people that now no one can either insult Musahar’s son or deceive him.”
He added, “Those who spit in the sky forget that they are spitting, they fall back on their face. Now Mr. Manjhi is a brand and he is not afraid of anyone.” HAM(S) won five of the six seats it contested in the 2025 elections as part of the National Democratic Alliance.
Published – 19 Dec 2025 21:45 IST
