Bihar ally Upendra Kushwaha quits as minister in Modi government

Union minister and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha has resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of minister on Monday, reports ANI. The move comes a day ahead of the Winter Session, capping months of sparring between Kushwaha and the BJP over seat sharing in Bihar for the Lok Sabha polls.

“Kushwaha will hold a press conference in Delhi at 2 pm to make the announcement,” RSLP spokesperson Fazal Imam Malik said, confirming the news.

The RLSP chief was quoted by ANI as saying that he would not be attending a meeting of NDA allies to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi today, ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament.

Kushwaha had last month set a deadline of November 30 for the BJP to make its stand on seat sharing clear, saying ““It would be very harmful for the NDA if a decision on seat-sharing is not taken soon. We must get a respectful number of seats.”

The RLSP, an ally of the BJP in the NDA in the 2014 elections, had won three seats in the general elections. The BJP had bagged 22 seats and the LJP, six. But, with the return of the JD(U) in the NDA last year after the Grand Alliance disintegrated, the equation has changed within the grouping this time.

Kushwaha has been upset with the BJP after it asserted that the RLSP would not be given more than two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, even as it went out of way to accommodate Kumar by agreeing that the saffron party and the JD(U) would fight equal number of seats.

The RLSP may join hands with the opposition, which includes Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Congress.

Bihar sends 40 MPs to Lok Sabha.