GAYA JI, Sept. 15 -- Sending a tough message to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, Hindustan Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM) patron and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi warned that his party would contest 100 seats on its own if it was not allotted 15 to 25 seats in the alliance. "It is humiliating for HAM to remain a registered party even after 10 years of its formation. It is necessary to become a recognised party in 2025 at any cost, and for that we need to win at least eight seats or secure 6% of the vote share in the assembly elections. That is why we are demanding a minimum of 15 seats," Manjhi said while speaking to mediapersons at his residence in Bodh Gaya on Sunday. Manjhi expressed confidence that the NDA would accept his demand in order to strengthen the alliance, pointing out that HAM had 10,000-15,000 voters in each assembly constituency of Bihar. Otherwise, he said, the party would contest 100 seats independently to secure the required eight seats. Earlier, on September 2, while addressing a meeting of supporters, Manjhi had staked a claim for 30-40 seats in NDA, arguing that HAM should win at least 20 MLAs to press the government to implement pro-poor and pro-landless policies. In the 2020 assembly elections, HAM contested as part of NDA and won four out of the seven seats allotted to it. According to sources, the NDA seat-sharing formula is nearly finalised. As per the arrangement, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) will contest 102 seats and the BJP 101 seats. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has been allotted 20 seats, while Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha are expected to get 10 seats each. However, no official announcement has yet been made on the seat-sharing formula....