Upendra Kushwaha's coincidence' meet with Tejashwi creates alliance buzz in Bihar

Patna: Hours after BJP president Amit Shah and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar announced 50-50 seat sharing formula in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Upendra Kushwaha – president of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) met opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav in Arwal district on Friday.

The meeting between the two leaders has triggered various speculation of discontent in the state’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) grouping.

A picture of the meet was shared by the RJD on its WhatsApp group. A functionary of Kushwaha’s party said that “public figures do meet each other, even if they aren’t allies”.

RSLP led by Kushwaha is a part of BJP-led alliance in Bihar along with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).

Kushwaha on 50-50 seat sharing between BJP and JD(U) announcement said, “He has not stated any number of seats for any party. It would not be proper for us to say anything on the matter until the number of seats assigned to each party is declared."

“Tejashwi Yadav had merely given Kushwaha a ‘courtesy call’. It was a coincidence that Tejashwi and Kushwaha both had a political programme in the same district and happened to be in the circuit house at the same time, “RLSP nation general secretary Madhaw Anand said.

However, RJD national vice president Shivanad Tiwary said that Amit Shah has shown “excessively generosity to Nitish Kumar and ignored old allies” by agreeing to the 50-50 deal.

"Nitish, on the other hand, is like a Brahmin who will first satiate himself and leave the crumbs for Shudras and Dalits," he quipped.

In August, the RLSP leader sparked a controversy by saying that a “delicious kheer can be prepared with milk from the Yadav’s (the RJD’s base) and rice from Kushwaha’s.”