Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (English: Indian People's Front), abbreviated HAM(S), is an Indian political party with a presence in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. In Bihar, this party is also a natural Allies of

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

(NDA) similar to

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

. 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 The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional h ...

, Jitan Ram Manjhi, who left the

party along with 18 others to form Hindustani Awam Morcha following the

2015 Bihar political crisis There was a political crisis in Bihar state of India during February 2015 over the post of the Chief Minister of Bihar. Incumbent Chief minister, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi did not vacate the post for former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who w ...

. The party added "Secular" to its name in June 2015, becoming Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular). In July 2015, the

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

recognised HAM(S) as a political party. The election symbol of the party is a wok.

History

In July 2015, the party joined the

(NDA) and contested 21 seats, with some additional members contesting on the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) ticket in

. 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, 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

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

. The party won four seats in the

2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election The Bihar Legislative Assembly election was held in three phases through October–November to elect members to the Seventeenth Bihar Legislative Assembly. The term of the previous Sixteenth Legislative Assembly of Bihar ended on 29 November 20 ...

and Manjhi's son Santosh Suman was made a minister in

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

's cabinet.

Prominent members

* Jitan Ram Manjhi, founding member and former

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

, Member of Legislative Assembly from Imamganj. * Santosh Suman Manjhi, Minister of Irrigation and SC ST Welfare in the

Government of Bihar Bihar Government is the State governments of India, state government of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar and its nine Divisions of Bihar, divisions which consist of Districts of Bihar, districts. It consists of an execut ...

, and Member of Legislative Council of Bihar. * Ramesh Singh (National Vice President), Hindustan Awam Morcha, he is national vice president of Hindustan Awam Morcha since 2021

Electoral performance

Lok Sabha elections

Bihar Vidhan Sabha

List of Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha

List of Members of Legislative Assembly in Bihar

List of Members of Legislative Council of Bihar

References

{{National Democratic Alliance , state=collapsed Political parties in Bihar Political parties established in 2015 2015 establishments in Bihar Janata Parivar Dalit politics