Upendra Kushwaha joins grand alliance in Bihar

PATNA: Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Upendra Kushwaha Thursday joined the UPA days after he quit the Modi ministry with a scathing attack on the Prime Minister in a move designed to boost the perception that the opposition combine of Congress is gaining traction after BJP’s defeats in three heartland states.While Kushwaha is a player in Bihar, state allies led by RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, veteran Sharad Yadav and Congress led by veteran Ahmed Patel held a joint press conference in the capital to put a larger political gloss on the event. Yadav launched a scathing attack on the performance of state government led by Nitish Kumar and BJP, while Kushwaha dubbed the Modi regime as anti-social justice – twin issues which have been JD(U)’s winning poll plank since 2005.“Kumar has raped the mandate. His government is running on the double engine of corruption and crime,” Yadav said. Kushwaha alleged BJP and Kumar jointly plotted to weaken him politically because he was raising uncomfortable questions like “social justice” and poor quality of education in Bihar – a key reason behind his decision to quit the NDA.The picture of Bihar allies led by Congress central leadership in Patel and AICC incharge Shaktisinh Gohil addressing the media in Congress headquarters contrasted with the rumblings among the BJP allies, with LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan the latest to speak out on coalition issues. Tejashwi sought to drive home the point.“Kushwaha has come. Manjhi was also in the NDA but joined us after seeing the reality. It is the same situation in Kashmir, Bihar, UP, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra where allies are angry. People have decided to give a strong reply to those who cheated them with false promises,” he said. Crucially, the Bihar partners left a bait hanging for LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan by not rejecting him outright but also not appearing eager to win him over.Asked about Paswan’s possible exit from NDA, Gohil and Yadav said, “It is a hypothetical question. There is no such issue at the moment. When such a question arises, we will sit together and take a collective call.” They gave a similar reply on Nitish Kumar after a Congress MP said that he too should be admitted in UPA.Kushwaha’s entry in UPA means that RJD, Congress, RLSP and HAM would seek to take on BJP-JD(U)-LJP combine in 2019. It is learnt that RLSP may contest six seats including one in Jharkhand.