Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha resigns; breaks ties with NDA

Following the rift with BJP over a seat-sharing deal for the 2019 General Elections, RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samata Party) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned as Minister of State for Human Resource Development.

Talking to the reporters after resigning, Upendra Kushwaha said, “Narendra Modi ji couldn’t meet expectations of the people of Bihar. Nothing was done for special status. Bihar is still where it was earlier. Education and health system is non-existent. Nothing was done for Bihar.”

Earlier in the day, talking to the news agency ANI, Upendra Kushwaha said, “I will not participate in the meeting of NDA allies today.”

Kushwaha was invited to the NDA allies meet, scheduled for 4 pm today, which will be chaired by PM Modi ahead of the Winter Session of the Parliament.

However, after parting ways with NDA, the RLSP is expected to join hands with the opposition, which includes Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Congress. According to the sources, Sharad Yadav is believed to be ready to merge his party with Kushwaha’s, so together they can have a better share of seats in an opposition alliance.

Notably, the first signs of a rift between Kushwaha and BJP emerged after party chief Amit Shah, in a joint press conference with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, in October announced that both parties would contest an equal number of seats in 2019 elections and smaller allies would have to take a cut in their share to accommodate the new partner.

On November 10, the Union minister had demanded that his party be allotted more than three seats in the state by the NDA to contest the 2019 election, given that the RLSP’s strength has grown significantly. Later, Kushwaha asserted that he was in favour of Narendra Modi returning as the prime minister in 2019, but will not tolerate any insult against the party.

The RLSP chief had sought the prime minister’s intervention to resolve the seat-sharing issue in Bihar NDA. Interestingly, the RLSP, as an ally of the BJP in the NDA, had won three seats in the 2014 general election.

Also Read: RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha refuses to attend NDA meeting