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Tag: RLSP

  • After RLSP -JD(U) merger, Nitish Kumar rewards Upendra Kushwaha with top party post

    By PTI
    PATNA: Bihar’s ruling JD(U) on Sunday received a shot in the arm with the merger of RLSP of Upendra Kushwaha, a former protege of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who came back under his wing nine years after having fallen apart.

    The merger took place at the JD(U) state headquarters here, where the chief minister welcomed Kushwaha, a former Union minister, by presenting him with a bouquet.

    Top JD(U) leaders like Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, Sanjay Kumar Jha and Vashisth Narayan Singh and key office bearers of the now dissolved RLSP like Madhaw Anand and Fazl Imam Mallick were also present.

    The much-anticipated reunion, likely to be mutually beneficial, comes on the back of hectic parleys between the two leaders in the recent past.

    Soon after he was inducted into the JD(U), Kumar announced Kushwaha’s appointment as the national parliamentary board president “with immediate effect”.

    Kushwaha, who brings on table his support base of the sizeable Koeri caste, vowed to make the JD(U) “the number one party” in Bihar and said that after having been witness to “many ups and downs” as the RLSP founding chief, he looked forward to making use of his experience under the guidance of Nitish Kumar.

    Kushwaha was in political wilderness since his exit from NDA in 2017.

    READ HERE | Friendship restored: Upendra Kushwaha announces official merger of RLSP with JDU in Bihar

    Feeling “stifled” in the RJD-led Grand Alliance, he quit the coalition ahead of the assembly elections last year and ended up facing political isolation notwithstanding the support of his Koeri community which is the second most populous OBC group in Bihar after the Yadavas.

    Kumar, who is serving his fourth consecutive term in power, has suffered a diminution in clout on account of the JD(U)’s unimpressive performance in the assembly elections which saw him lose the upper hand to the BJP.

    The chief minister, who has since relinquished the post of the JD(U) president, nonetheless enjoys supreme control over the party and has been busy consolidating his Luv-Kush (Kurmi-Koeri) base, in a bid to hold his own against the BJP juggernaut.

    Kumar himself is a Kurmi, a caste that is numerically small but very influential by virtue of being economically and educationally advanced.

    After cutting his teeth as a youth leader in the Lok Dal and Janata Dal, Kushwaha went on to become the deputy leader in the state assembly of the Samata Party, a breakaway group which Kumar had formed along with veteran socialist leader George Fernandes.

    ALSO READ | Protesting JDU merger, 35 senior RLSP leaders join RJD, attack Upendra Kushwaha

    By 2004, after the JD(U) an entity formed with the merger of Samata Party with Janata Dal’s splinter group headed by Sharad Yadav emerged as the senior NDA partner, Kushwaha became the Leader of the Opposition.

    He got expelled from the JD(U) for anti-party activities in 2007, but was re-inducted two years later.

    He was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat but ambition got the better of him in 2013 when he fell apart with Kumar once again and floated the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.

    The BJP-led NDA, which was then desperate for new allies in the wake of the exit of Kumar, welcomed Kushwaha and his fledgling party won three seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, riding the Modi wave.

    Kushwaha himself was appointed the Minister of State for HRD, a post he held till his exit from the NDA.

    Meanwhile, Ashok Choudhary, one of the closest aides of the chief minister, summed up the buoyancy in JD(U) camp.

    “It is being increasingly clear to all that the future belongs to the brand of politics popularised by Nitish Kumar. In the recent past, many have crossed over. Upendra Kushwaha’s return adds another chapter. In future, many more may follow,” he said.

  • Friendship restored: Upendra Kushwaha announces official merger of RLSP with JDU in Bihar

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Putting an end to all speculations on Sunday, founder of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) Upendra Kushwaha announced the merger of his party with all ideologies and individuals with the ruling Janata Dal (United) (JDU) on Sunday.

    “RLSP will work for common causes under the leadership of chief minister Nitish Kumar to make Bihar stronger,” Kushwaha told in a press meet. 

    “Even before floating the RLSP, I had worked elaborately for the JDU. The merger is happening in the larger interest of the state.”

    According to political analysts, the merger was long speculated following the debacle that RLSP faced in the recent assembly polls in Bihar. Recently, close to 35 senior RLSP leaders had joined the RJD.

    When asked what his role will be like after the merger, Kushwaha said that he has left it on CM Nitish Kumar to decide and further hinted that he would work for boosting the education sector in the state with the support of all the parties in the alliance. 

    On being reminded of his statement on Nitish Kumar an enemy by one of the reporters, Kushwaha asked him to forget what was said in the past. “There is no need of an enemy when you have a friend like Nitish Kumar,” the RLSP founder had said. 

    An evidently elated Kushwaha, while describing Nitish Kumar like his elder brother, said that all like-minded people in politics with common ideologies should come on one platform. 

  • Protesting JDU merger, 35 senior RLSP leaders join RJD, attack Upendra Kushwaha

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Amid the speculations about the RLSP-JDU merger, nearly 35 senior leaders of RLSP including working state president and principal general secretary joined Bihar’s principal opposition party-RJD, in a dramatic way on Friday.

    Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, along with party state chief Jagdanand Singh gave them the primary memberships of the party. The prominent faces who joined RJD giving an existential threat to RLSP are state president Virendra Kushwaha, principal general secretary Nirmal Kushwaha, state president of Women’s Cell Madhu Manjari Mehta and former state president Vijay Mahato and others. All of them received the RJD membership in the presence of Tejashwi Yadav.

    They attacked Upendra Kushwaha for his decision to merge RLSP with JDU. Lashing out at Upendra Kushwaha and Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav said, “It was Nitish Kumar, who had dubbed Upendra Kushwaha during the state assembly election as ‘neech’ indirectly. Now, Kushwaha ji has decided to go with him — the weakest chief minister of the country.”

    “Only Upendra Kushwaha is left to survive or sink in the RLSP”, he mocked. Quoting an old statement of Upendra Kushwaha, Tejashwi said that once he often used to say that no one needs an enemy if he has a friend like Nitish Kumar.  Now, he is going to be merged with Nitish Kumar and the CM has also become so restless to welcome Kushwaha”, he said.

    रालोसपा के संस्थापकों, प्रमुख नेताओं व पदाधिकारियों ने रालोसपा के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष उपेंद्र कुशवाहा जी को निष्कासित कर पार्टी का आज राजद में विलय कर दिया। प्रदेश की राजनीति में यह एक बड़ा बदलाव है। उपेंद्र कुशवाहा जी अब अकेले रह गये है। उनकी पार्टी अब राजद का हिस्सा बन चुकी है। pic.twitter.com/L4HVatzmym
    — Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) March 12, 2021

    He also made a frontal attack on Nitish Kumar saying that Kumar survives on the support of “Baisakhi” (support or anchor) of BJP in Bihar.  “In Bihar, the development of double engine has come to a standstill.”, Yadav sarcastically said.

    Earlier, on March 6, 41 RLSP leaders had joined the JDU.  Meanwhile, poll analysts Arun Kumar Pandey said that RLSP has been weakened by the desertion of 35 leaders. “ But once Upendra Kushwaha, who has been projecting himself as an alternate to Nitish Kumar is speculated to be under the same man if his party merges ahead with JDU”, Pandey said.

    Meanwhile, sources said that the RLSP will merger with JDU after March 14.

  • Dozens of RLSP leaders join RJD amid speculation of party’s merger with JD-U

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Amid speculations that Bihar’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) is likely to merge with JD-U, dozens of office-bearers of the Upendra Kushwaha-led party including the principal general secretary and others, joined the RJD on Friday.

    Leader of the RJD Tejashwi Yadav welcomed all those who joined the party.

    Stepping up attacks on JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav said he has become the country’s weakest Chief Minister.

    “There is nothing called sushashan (good governance) in Bihar. Nitish Kumar has ruined the state and he does not have the courage to take action against criminals and corruption”, Yadav said.

    He lambasted the Nitish government for not taking action against the brother of a BJP minister after liquor was seized from his school premises in Muzaffarpur recently.

    Yadav accusing the state government of patronizing and protecting the criminals politically.

    “Now, Nitish has stooped so low that he is welcoming Upendra Kushwaha, whom he had once described as ‘nich’, said Tejashwi Yadav.

    Prominent among others who joined the are principal general secretary Nirmal Kumar, Birendra Kushwaha, and Madhu Manjari.

    All those who joined the RJD lambasted Upendra Kushwaha for his decision to merge RLSP with JD-U.

  • Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP likely to merge with JDU on March 14

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Bihar’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) is likely to merge with Janata Dal-United on March 14 in Patna. State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also likely to be present on the occasion of the merger.

    A senior leader of the RLSP told ANI, “RLSP has convened a two-day meeting at Patna on March 13-14 to seek approval from party workers on the merger with the JD-U. The move comes after the debacle in the state Assembly elections 2020.”

    Under the leadership of Upendra Kushwaha, the party had failed to secure even a single seat in the 243 member Bihar Assembly.

    Speaking to ANI, Secretary-General of RLSP Madhav Anand, a close associate of Upendra Kushwaha said: “Wait till March 14 and you will know the decision of the party.”

    JD-U sources are also hopeful that the impending merger would have a wide-ranging impact on Bihar’s politics.

    “RLSP’s merger plan with JD-U is almost finalised and is expected to be announced on March 14 in Patna. We hope that this merger will strengthen the JD-U and will have a significant impact on the state’s politics,” a senior JD-U leader said.

    It is believed that the move comes as part of JD-U’s plans to consolidate its vote bank in the state. The JD-U has only 43 MLAs and is the junior partner in the NDA government. With 74 legislators, the Bharatiya Janata Party had emerged as the big brother in the 2020 Assembly polls.

    In the recent Bihar Assembly polls RLSP fought the elections as part of an alliance comprising, among others, Asaduddin Owaisis AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) and Mayawatis’ Bahujan Samaj Party, declaring itself the Chief Ministerial candidate but could not win even a single seat.

    In November 2020, JD-U President Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fourth straight term.

    The NDA secured a 125-seat majority in the 243-seat strong Bihar Legislative Assembly, of which BJP won on 74 seats, JD-U on 43 while eight seats were won by two other NDA constituents. 

  • RLSP-JD(U) merger on the cards? A day after AIMIM MLAs meet Nitish Kumar, Upendra Kushwaha follows suit

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Sunday’s meeting of RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has triggered speculations about the former rejoining the JD(U) fold in near future. Upendra Kushwaha had also held meetings with JD(U) senior leaders in recent past.

    On Sunday, former Union minister Kushwaha went to meet the CM at his residence with a possible cabinet expansion around the corner. Former state president of JD(U) Vashishtha Narayan Singh also attended the meeting between Nitish Kumar and Kushwaha.

    “It was the meeting between two brothers – Nitish Kumar and me. We are like brothers for a long time despite our differences in politics”, Kushwaha told the media after coming out from the CM’s residence.

    Upon being asked about the political murmurs regarding RLSP’s merger with JD(U), Kushwaha did not elaborate saying this is not true. Sources said that Kushwaha is being convinced to be with JD(U) by senior leader Vashishtha Narayan Singh, who is taken in high regard by Kushwaha.

    Singh told the media that the meeting was very cordial and encouraging but he also avoided speaking anything about the merger. But if a reliable NDA source is to be believed, RLSP will get some LMC seats from Governor quota if it either merges or comes in alliance with JD(U). “Upendra Kushwaha like BJP leader and former union minister Shahanwaz Hussain may also get elected to state legislative council through the quota of the Governor. Kushwaha may also get a berth in the cabinet in near future, if he joins JD(U). Talks are in progress under strict political confidentiality”, said a NDA source.

    The RLSP had contested with BSP and the AIMIM in the recent assembly polls. A few days ago, the lone MLA of BSP Jaman Khan from Chainpur in Kaimur joined the JD(U). A day before Kushwaha met CM Nitish Kumar, all the five MLAs of AIMIM had met Nitish Kumar.

    “After the AIMIM MLAs met CM, it was Kushwaha’s turn. So, something big is in the making. Wait for a few weeks now”, said political analyst RK Verma, adding that Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) has roped-in many sharp brains in party like RCP Singh and others to seize the opportunity.

     Meanwhile, the RLSP denied merger rumours via Twitter. “The news of the RLSP merger is baseless and wrong. Considering the aspirations of the people of both Bihar and the country, the RLSP will continue its struggle”, the tweet read. 

    But some seasoned political analysts of Patna strongly believe that the RLSP has now no other option left after the debacle in Bihar polls but to either merge with JD(U) or come in alliance with the NDA. “Kushwaha had worked in alliance with NDA in the past and his political temperament does not differ more from others in NDA. As of now, the RLSP’s prime target is to consolidate the position in state political that has virtually weaken after recent polls with not a single seat went to it”, said political analyst Pawan Kumar Yadav.

    Kumar had made Kushwaha the leader of the opposition in 2004, though he was a first-time MLA, ignoring many legislators who had suggested otherwise.

    With time, Kushwaha turned a rebel and parted ways with Kumar to form his own party.

    The RLSP later became a part of the BJP-led NDA before 2014 general election and Kushwaha was made a member of the Narendra Modi 1.0 government.

    But, the return of the JD(U) to the NDA fold in July 2017 changed equations once again, and the RLSP quit the coalition and became a part of the RJD-headed Grand Alliance.

    The Mahagathbandhan, however, suffered a severe drubbing in the 2019 parliamentary polls and Kushwaha lost the election from Karakat and Ujiyarpur Lok Sabha seats.

    Weeks before the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, he walked out of the Mahagathbandhan and floated a six-party front, with Uttar Pradesh leader Mayawati and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi as its prominent members.

    The front failed miserably, but AIMIM managed to bag five seats in the Muslim-dominated Seemachal region, emerging as a new force in Bihar politics.  

  • RJD will never be able to return to power, says RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha

    Express News Service
    PATNA: RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha, who was once part of Grand Alliance in Bihar along with the RJD, claimed that the RJD will never be able to return to power in the state. Speaking to local media on Saturday, Kushwaha said that the people have given the mandate to Nitish Kumar to run the government.

    “In such a situation, where the people’s mandate has been given to Nitish Kumar to lead the NDA government, RJD shouldn’t daydream of returning to power,” he said.

    Kushwaha, who recently had met CM Nitish Kumar after his party failed to win even a single seat in the Bihar assembly, further made a prediction that the RJD, even in future, wouldn’t be able to come into power in the state.

    “The RJD leaders should take it from that their party wouldn’t be able to return to power, even in future,” he added vehemently.

    Upon being asked, Kushwaha said that it wouldn’t be prudent politically to predict the fall of a government that has been formed a month ago. “But I think, RJD shouldn’t be daydreaming of coming into power now in Bihar,” he asserted.

    When asked about the defection of six JDU MLAs to BJP in Arunachal Pradesh, Kushwaha very shrewdly refrained from making any comment on it. He only said that it was a matter between JDU and BJP, beyond the concern of RLSP.

    He also said that though his party couldn’t win a single seat in the assembly election, there is no doubt that the RLSP has expanded its political base in the state.

    When he was categorically asked about the speculation of his return to NDA after he met Nitish Kumar, Kushwaha denied it far from the fact.