Further setback to Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP in Bihar: Two MLAs, one MLC join JD(U)

Interestingly, the RLSP legislators had earlier objected to Kushwaha’s decision to snap ties with the NDA and join the Mahagathbandhan.

The legislators had announced that they would remain with the ruling coalition and seek recognition from the Election Commission as the “real Rashtriya Lok Samata Party”.

Kushwaha left NDA in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, saying he felt “betrayed and dejected” by PM Modi’s leadership.

While the BJP-JD(U)-LJP combine swept the state, winning 39 of the 40 seats, for the RJD-led opposition alliance, the solitary victory went to the Congress — in Kishanganj.

In the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the RLSP failed to register a win in the five seats it contested, including Karakat and Ujiyarpur, from where Kushwaha was the candidate. In 2014, as part of the NDA, RLSP had won all the three seats it had contested in Bihar.