GAYA JI, Dec. 23 -- Union minister and patron of Hindustan Awam Morcha (S) Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose party won five seats in the recent assembly elections, has staked claim to one Rajya Sabha seat from the state for his party. His claim comes amid speculations that all five seats going to polls in April will go to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). According to reports, Manjhi has also expressed his dissatisfaction the way he has been treated in the NDA and indicated that he may have to reconsider his options if his party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), is not allotted a Rajya Sabha seat. Manjhi spoke about his party's claim on Rajya Sabha seat while speaking at the felicitation ceremony of the newly elected MLAs of HAM (S) in Gaya Ji on Sunday. He asked his son, Santosh Kumar Suman, a minister in Bihar cabinet, to resign if he could not get a Rajya Sabha seat. He asked his son: "Give up the temptation of ministerial positions. The Rajya Sabha seats have been divided. Two Rajya Sabha seats went to the BJP and two to the JD(U). One went to the LJP. The HAM party didn't receive a single seat. Even though the HAM party has the strongest voting percentage after the BJP, it was still denied." He urged his son, also the national president of the party, to stand up and work strongly. "If the HAM party becomes strong, we will appoint several ministers. Jitan Manjhi, a Union minister, stands behind you." Speaking in local dialect Magahi, he said, "We will have to chart our own path if we don't get our due. My own ministerial berth is no big deal. I will survive politically even if I cease to be in the Union Cabinet." Manjhi made it clear that his party, of which he is the lone MP, now wanted a berth in the Upper House as well. However, when journalists approached him with more queries, Manjhi backtracked in his characteristic style and said, "Please do not twist my words out of context. I can't even make a decision for my party because I am not its office-bearer, but only its patron (Sanrakshak)". The 80-year-old leader, who floated HAM in 2015, added that his comments were prompted by media reports suggesting that in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in April, the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) would claim two seats each, while one would go to Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). He said, "This leaves us with the question what harm is there in the Rajya Sabha elections. Ahead of the 2024 general elections, we were promised two LS seats and one RS seat. We got only one Lok Sabha seat, which we won for the NDA. The promise on the Rajya Sabha seat remains to be fulfilled, and that is what I wanted to highlight before our party workers." Meanwhile, political analysts were discussing the possibility of the candidature of BJP working president Nitin Nabin, RLM supremo Upendra Kushwaha, Chirag Paswan's mother Reena Paswan and singer-actor Pawan Singh from NDA. Manjhi's statement has opened a new angle....