Rashtriya Lok Morcha president Upendra Kushwaha on Sunday vowed to work towards restoring the 65% reservation for deprived castes in Bihar, which was introduced by the Nitish Kumar government but struck down by the court.
Kushwaha, an ally of the BJP, said his party had passed a resolution to this effect at its three-day organisational convention, 'Vimarsh Shivir 2026', which concluded in Rajgir on Saturday.
"At our three-day organisational convention, we passed a resolution to ensure 65 per cent reservation for backward classes. During his tenure, Nitish Kumar had initiated the reservation process following a caste survey, but it was struck down by the Patna High Court citing the 50 per cent ceiling," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
The enhanced quotas, which breached the 50 per cent reservation ceiling set by the Supreme Court, were introduced in 2022 when Bihar was ruled by the Mahagathbandhan, comprising the JD(U), RJD, Congress and Left parties.
The Patna High Court subsequently struck down the enhanced quotas, and the state government's appeal is pending before the Supreme Court.
The JD(U), which is now back in the NDA, has faced criticism from the RJD and other parties for not getting the legislation providing for the enhanced quotas included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which offers protection from judicial review.
Kushwaha also sought to play down the controversy over his recent remark that the RLM was a "true claimant to the legacy" of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister earlier this year.
Responding to angry reactions from some JD(U) leaders, Kushwaha said his remarks had been "misinterpreted".
"It is not about assuming power. It is our shared responsibility to take forward the ideas of our ancestors," he said.
Kushwaha, who headed the JD(U)'s parliamentary board before floating his own outfit in 2023, is a former Union minister and has had a long association with the party.
He belongs to the Koeri caste, while Nitish Kumar belongs to the Kurmi community. The two groups are together referred to as "Luv-Kush" in Bihar's political lexicon.
Kushwaha's son Deepak Prakash is a minister in Samrat Choudhary's BJP-led government and a cabinet colleague of Nitish Kumar's son Nishant.
"Both are equal in my eyes," Kushwaha said, dismissing suggestions that he was uneasy over Nitish Kumar's son getting greater political attention.
"Many people forget that it was Upendra Kushwaha who had first advocated the political entry of Nishant," he said.
Kushwaha said people must not forget that he had nurtured the JD(U) with his blood and sweat.
"New-generation JD(U) leaders may not realise this, but veterans are well aware of my contributions. Also, I am as saddened as they are over Nitish Kumar's departure from Bihar politics," he said.
Kushwaha said his party had suggested that the state government constitute an Education Commission to assess education trends across the world and submit its recommendations to the government.
According to an RLM statement, the party's organisational convention in Rajgir also passed resolutions on renaming Patna as Pataliputra, observing a "Female Teachers' Day" on the birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule, and naming Bihta airport after former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, among others.
(With inputs from PTI)
