Upendra Kushwaha skips NDA dinner meet

Patna: In a major setback to the NDA, Union minister and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha on Thursday skipped the dinner meeting convened in Patna to showcase the achievements of the NDA government in the last four years.

Sources claim that the RLSP president was upset over chief minister Nitish Kumar being declared as the face of NDA in Bihar.

The national working president of RLSP, Nagmani, told this newspaper, “Formation of any government is impossible without the support of RLSP. Upendra Kushwaha has emerged as a bigger leader than chief minister Nitish Kumar. Therefore, he should be declared as the face of NDA in Bihar.”

Chief minister Nitish Kumar was declared as the face of NDA in Bihar after the issue was raised during JD(U)’s core committee meeting on Sunday in Patna. The RLSP leaders also said that the BJP must consider the option of projecting Mr Kushw-aha as the next chief ministerial candidate because he represents the community which is the largest after the Yadavs among OBCs in Bihar. The Kushwaha community accounts for 10 percent of the population in the state.

“The BJP knows that Muslims will not come out to vote for the NDA, maximum Yadav votes will also go to the RJD. Nitish Kumar has been losing his vote bank because people are not happy with him. We want BJP president Amit Shah to consider Mr Kushwaha’s popularity and clean image and take decisions,” RLSP leader Nagmani said in Patna.

Though other RLSP leaders turned up for the crucial dinner meet hosted by the BJP at Patna’s Gyan Bhawan on Thursday, sources said that demands being raised by smaller allies like RLSP may create trouble for the NDA in the 2019 general elections.