Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief (RLSP) Upendra Kushwaha, who is at odds with his NDA partners on various issues, today said he was heading for New Delhi where he would seek to meet BJP president Amit Shah to discuss seat-sharing for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
His announcement, made in a tweet, set off speculation that he was trying to reach out to the BJP leadership after his hard stand on the seat adjustment formula within the coalition.
Over the last few days, Kushwaha, also a Union minister, has come under fire from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders for launching a tirade against chief minister Nitish Kumar. Sources said the BJP leadership is also annoyed with the RLSP chief over his meeting Bihar’s opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Loktantrik Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav.
Meanwhile, Kushwaha has reportedly been peeved after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (United) decided to contest an equal number of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Bihar. The state sends 40 members to Parliament and after the BJP-JD(U) deal, there is speculation that this would mean fewer seats for other allies like the RLSP and the Lok Janshakti Party.
The RLSP, which had contested three seats in the 2014 general elections and won all of them, was seeking more seats this time.
First Published: Nov 15, 2018 21:44 IST
Source: HindustanTimes