Upendra Kushwaha meets Sharad Yadav, fuels speculation over his next move

Kushwaha, also a Union minister, met Yadav at the latter's residence and both the leaders were believed to discussed the current political situation, especially in Bihar,  RLSP sources said.
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha meet Lok Tantrik Janta dal Party chief Shared yadav in New Delhi on Monday. | (Shekhar Yadav | EPS)
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha meet Lok Tantrik Janta dal Party chief Shared yadav in New Delhi on Monday. | (Shekhar Yadav | EPS)

NEW DELHI /PATNA: Amid speculation of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) walking out of the NDA over seat-sharing talks in Bihar, party chief and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha met Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) leader Sharad Yadav on Monday. 

The meeting comes in the backdrop of growing acrimony between Kushwaha and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. 

RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha and
LJD chief Sharad Yadav after a
meeting in  Delhi on Monday |
shekhar yadav

Kushwaha, who termed the meeting with Yadav as a “courtesy call”, also said he was called for a meeting by BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday, but did not go. However, he had earlier met RJD leader and former deputy CM of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav. 

Upon returning to Patna, the RLSP chief stepped up attack on Nitish, accusing him of trying to “politically destroy” him. “There are clear efforts to destroy Upendra Kushwaha and his party. But these efforts would have no impact on me and my party. Even if the MLAs change sides, it will not harm me politically,” said Kushwaha, who had dubbed Nitish “a master in poaching”.

The buzz in Patna’s political circles is that Shekhar could be rewarded with a ministerial berth after joining JD(U) while the only other RLSP legislator, Lalan Paswan, could be fielded from Sasaram as a JD(U) candidate in the next year’s Lok Sabha polls. 

The BJP and the JD(U) had earlier announced that they will contest on equal number of seats from Bihar and there were reports that the RLSP, which has three MPs from the state, may be given only two seats.    
Kushwaha, who is deeply disappointed with both parties over seat distribution, accused Nitish of having used the word “lowly” for him at a public event. But Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP denied that. “Nitish Kumar has never used the word ‘neech’ for any political leader. I was present at the event. Some people are willingly trying to become martyrs. But they would not find success,” he tweeted.

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