NDA ally Kushwaha cosies up to Sharad

New Delhi, November 12

RLSP president and BJP ally Upendra Kushwaha met Opposition leader Sharad Yadav on Monday, fuelling speculation that he may switch camps over his differences with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the proposed seat-sharing arrangement among the saffron party’s Bihar allies for the Lok Sabha polls.

Kushwaha, also a Union Minister, met Yadav at the latter’s residence and both leaders are believed to have discussed the current political situation, especially in Bihar, RLSP sources said.

In a tweet, Kushwaha described the meeting as a courtesy call. He has often asserted that he would work to get Narendra Modi elected as prime minister for another term but his unease with Nitish and meetings with opposition leaders, including RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, have sparked speculation about his future course.

Yadav had snapped ties with Kumar after the JD(U) chief joined hands with the BJP last year, and he was working to rally the opposition against the saffron party.

An old rival of Kumar, Kushwaha had also attacked the chief minister for allegedly insulting him and had targeted him again on Sunday over reports that two MLAs of his party may join the JD(U). — PTI

Tussle over seats

• RLSP, which had fought three seats in 2014 and won all, is unlikely to be spared more than two seats in 2019
• Kushwaha has opposed BJP chief Amit Shah’s proposal that his RLSP and Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP contest fewer number of seats than in 2014 
• Shah’s purported aim was to allot as many seats to Nitish’s JD(U) as the saffron party fights