Janata Dal (United) parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday said that he joined the party to give strength to chief minister Nitish Kumar and will continue to do so while warning of a “conspiracy being hatched to weaken him (Kumar).”
Kushwaha, whose recent meeting with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, set the rumours of his intention of joining the BJP.
On Friday evening, the Bihar BJP leader met with Kushwaha, triggering a buzz about Kushwaha’s next political move.
Also Read: “My meeting with BJP leaders blown out of proportion, many top leaders in touch with BJP,” says Kushwaha
There is also speculation that if Kushwaha does not join the BJP, he might float his own party and join the NDA fold.
However, downplaying the speculation, Kushwaha said, “I want to tell Nitish Kumar that an effort is on to weaken him. Try to understand the conspiracy. I want to tell Nitishji that you are not alone.”
“I merged my party, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) with the JD (U) to give strength to Kumar as he needed it. Kumar has become weak in recent times. The party has become weak, but I am standing along Nitishji,” said Kushwaha while extending support to Kumar.
“Whenever Nitishji was attacked no one defended him, but I stood by him,” he added.
He alleged that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) members told him that a deal was struck before the formation of the grand alliance and said that he wants to know about that ‘deal’ which was supposedly struck before the formation of the grand alliance.
Kushwaha, who was snubbed when the JD(U) formed an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) after severing ties with the BJP to form a new government in Bihar last year, said he was being sidelined.
Meanwhile, the JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said that Kushwaha was being given due importance and asked him to introspect on what he has done to strengthen the party.
Also Read: Nitish laughs off Kushwaha’s BJP moves
Kushwaha’s comments came immediately after chief minister Nitish Kumar refused to comment on him and also asked the party members not to react. “Don’t ask me about him (Kushwaha). Let him speak whatever he wants. No party leaders will speak on his comments either,” said Kumar on the sidelines of a function to mark the birth anniversary of Karpoori Thakur.
Kushwaha, who was eyeing the deputy chief minister’s post, has reportedly been unhappy with the JD (U0 leadership for quite some time. “I am neither a sanyasi (hermit) nor sitting in a mutt (monastery). I am sitting in a pavilion, but for how long,” he said earlier this month amid talks of state cabinet expansion.
CM Kumar, however, categorically ruled out the possibility of another deputy chief minister in Bihar earlier this month.
Kushwaha is currently an MLC (member of legislative council). In March 2021, he merged his party, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), with the JD-U, months after it drew a blank in the 2020 assembly polls.
