Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday (December 19, 2025) faced allegations of “vote rigging” after a purported video of him declaring that he had ensured the victory of a trailing party candidate in the 2020 Bihar Assembly election went viral. However, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) founder has denied the allegations and said the video was “doctored”.
In the video, Mr. Manjhi is allegedly heard saying in Magahi language: “In 2020, he [Anil Kumar] was losing the election by 2,700 votes and called me asking for a solution. So I tried, and he won.” Mr. Kumar was the party’s candidate from the Tikari Assembly seat.
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He is further heard saying, “This time [2025 election], he lost the seat by 1,600 votes. In 2020, there was a District Magistrate named Abhishek Singh, who is now posted in Tripura. He said, ‘Sir, last time you were trailing by 2,700 votes but we made you win, but this time you were trailing by only 1,600 votes and still lost. What went wrong?’”
Mr. Manjhi further says he would have ensured Mr. Kumar’s victory this time as well if the candidate had informed him on time.
