Popularity contest

Claiming that he was the "most popular campaigner" among the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies in the Bihar polls, ex-Chief Minister of the state, Jitan Ram Manjhi, said Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) would post a better strike rate than all other National Democratic Alliance constituents. Given his clout, he said, the BJP-led alliance should have given him more seats as people "everywhere want to see me". Such was his following that even Ram Vilas Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and popular dalit leader, had to request him to address an election meeting in Alauli, where his brother and state LJP chief Pashupati Paras is in the fray.