Upendra Kushwaha to skip NDA allies meet today

Kushwaha was invited to the NDA allies meet, scheduled for 4 pm on Monday, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Winter Session of the Parliament. The JDU faction’s presence at the meet is also uncertain.

“Kushwaha is likely to announce his parting of ways with the BJP today. He will also quit as a Union minister,” PTI quoted a senior RLSP leader as saying.

The first signs of a rift between Kushwaha and BJP emerged after party chief Amit Shah, in a joint press conference with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, in October announced that both parties would contest an equal number of seats in 2019 elections and smaller allies would have to take a cut in their share to accommodate the new partner.

Hours after the announcement, Kushwaha created a stir with his “unscheduled meet” with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav at Arwal in Bihar. Earlier too, he had hinted that all was not well within the ruling coalition with his “kheer” remark. “One can prepare kheer with milk from the Yadavs and rice from the Kushwahas,” he had said.

Speculations are rife that the RLSP may join hands with the Opposition in Bihar, which includes Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Congress. Sharad Yadav’s newly formed Loktantrik Janshakti Party is also expected to join the purported alliance.