MOTIHARI: All set to walk out of NDA before parliament’s winter session begins, Union minister and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha on Thursday mounted scathing attacks on both BJP and JD(U), but stopped short of formally announcing his party’s decision to snap ties with NDA.
Speaking at an open session of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) at Bihar’s Motihari, the Union minister of state for human resources development (HRD) made it clear that he is disenchanted with NDA and declared “war” on the BJP-led alliance in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
“Yaachna nahin ab ran hoga, sangharsh bara bhishan hoga,” (There would be no more supplications now, but a war, and the struggle would be massive), said the OBC leader, who has been unhappy with BJP and JD(U) because his wish to get at least five seats to contest in the LS polls was ignored.
In an open attack on BJP for the first time, Kushwaha specifically chose the Ram temple issue and condemned the saffron party for raising it. “If their (BJP) intention to build the Ram temple (in Ayodhya) were pure, they would not be raising the temple issue just before the Lok Sabha polls. They are talking of the temple construction in order to divert the people’s attention from the core issues. If they were really interested in the temple, its construction could have been achieved in different ways,” he said.
Calling BJP a party of “jumlabaaz” (people making insincere promises), Kushwaha said: “People sitting in Delhi and BJP’s Bihar unit has totally surrendered before Nitish Kumar…BJP leaders are jumlabaaz. They have formed an outfit in Bihar under Nitish Kumar’s leadership”.
“The government in Bihar is inefficient and harmful for the interests of the poor and the downtrodden… We would very soon begin work on uprooting this government,” he added.
It was widely expected that Kushwaha would announce RLSP’s exit from NDA at the Motihari open session, but RLSP national general secretary Madhaw Anand said a formal announcement could not be made because of “some technical issues”.
“We are not going back on our stance. Kushwaha’s words that it will be a war should leave nobody in doubt,” added Anand.
Sources said Kushwaha would meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on December 10 and would announce quitting NDA and joining UPA the same day.