Following meeting with Rahul Gandhi, RLSP-chief Upendra Kushwaha quits NDA
Rashtriya Lok Shakti Party (RLSP) chief and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha quit NDA on Monday ending all speculations about his exit. Kushwaha was reportedly upset with the raw deal his party got in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He has been criticizing seat-sharing in Bihar which underlined that BJP and JD(U) will contest on 17 seats each. Bihar has 40 constituencies.
Had high hopes from NDA, writes Kushwaha in resignation letter
Kushwaha announced the decision after meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi this morning. In his resignation letter, he said he joined NDA five years ago as he had high hopes. "During the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, you made several commitments to the people of Bihar and to the nation at large," he wrote and added he extended his support because of these promises.
Kushwaha won't attend BJP alliance meeting
With his resignation, it is obvious that Kushwaha won't attend the BJP alliance meeting. This meeting was called a day before the winter session of Parliament starts on Tuesday. Kushwaha, who is Minister of State for Human Resource Development, is expected to join hands with the opposition. A few months ago, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav had hinted at a probable alliance.
Earlier, Kushwaha had hinted at alliance with RJD
In August, Kushwaha spoke about a kheer recipe that shook Bihar politics. "One can prepare kheer with milk from the Yadavs and rice from the Kushwahas," he had said and added sugar will be taken from Brahmins, Tulsi from Choudharyji (RLSP Bihar chief Bhudev Choudhary), and dry fruits from the Dalits and backward classes. Koeris (Kushwaha's community) make for 4-5% of Bihar's population.
His resignation isn't shocking, he was clearly upset with BJP
Kushwaha hadn't been mincing his words in criticizing BJP recently. Last week he slammed the party's plans of constructing a Ram Temple at the disputed land in Ayodhya. The RLSP resolution read, "This is not the function of political parties and their meddling in such matters causes tensions in the society and diverts the attention of the public from real issues."
