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BJP’s Bihar ally Kushwaha likely to quit NDA, final call expected on 6 December

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Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP is unhappy with Lok Sabha seat-sharing in Bihar and may leave NDA as BJP is unwillingly to accede to its demands.

New Delhi: After weeks of uncertainty, the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samata Party is likely to part ways with the BJP.

Highly-placed sources in the RLSP confirmed to ThePrint that the party will take a final call on whether to stay or part ways with the BJP at a rally in Bihar’s Motihari on 6 December.

Preceding the rally, the RLSP is scheduled to hold a two-day cadre meeting at Betia where  Kushwaha is expected to discuss the BJP’s offer of seats. Sources confirmed that Kushwaha had given time to the BJP till 30 November to finalise the seats.

“He wanted to meet the Prime Minister but the PM is travelling. However, it is also true that we have not got any response from the PM on the time we sought,” said a source.

“It is certain that with just the two or three seats being offered, our party cadre would vote in favour of parting with the alliance. We cannot bear the humiliation especially at the hands of JD(U).”

The ties between BJP and RLSP had been faltering ever since the former re-allied with the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) in Bihar in 2017. The rift intensified after the NDA seat-sharing was announced for Bihar last month — the BJP said it would contest in 17 seats, the JD(U) in 16 seats, the Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP in five seats, leaving just two seats for the RLSP in the state that has 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.


Also read: BJP ally RLSP’s chief Kushwaha meets Sharad Yadav, fuels speculation over his next move


BJP unrelenting 

In the previous Lok Sabha elections, the RLSP had fought and won from three seats, and this time the party was hoping for four seats to contest from. But the BJP does not seem to be in the mood to accede to its demand.

ThePrint has learnt that the BJP has decided to not succumb to the pressure Kushwaha — a Union minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet — is trying to build on the saffron party by meeting opposition leaders.

Senior BJP leaders said the party has made it clear to Kushwaha that while it will not be the first to sever ties with him, it would also not accept his demands.

“While Kushwaha is demanding a respectable number of seats in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he has not even been given time by party president Amit Shah,” a senior BJP leader said. “Doesn’t he find it insulting and doesn’t he understand that this means we don’t care about his demands at all.”

Sources said that not only has the BJP stood its ground but the party has also made Kushwaha aware of the warring leaders, vying for power, within his own party.

According to sources, the BJP has been trying to iron out differences over the past few weeks. The party had roped in its general secretary Bhupender Yadav to hold discussions with the RLSP chief.

There has, however, been no resolution of the contentious seat-sharing issue.

There is also a belief that with the JD(U) gaining in prominence, Kushwaha is facing a battle for political survival.


Also read: BJP move to placate Nitish Kumar, upsets Bihar ally Upendra Kushwaha


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