PATNA: The two-day convention of ‘committed’ workers, called by Janata Dal-United rebel Upendra Kushwaha here on Sunday, turned out to be a lackluster show with all prominent leaders of the party distancing from it despite chief minister Nitish Kumar remaining in focus in almost all banners of the event.
A member of legislative council (MLC) from Sitamarhi and former MLA Ranvijay Singh were among the select few leaders, who took part in the convention, being dubbed as the show of Kushwaha’s strength, that focused on discussing the ‘deal’ between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the JD-U on government formation.
“The so-called close aides of Kumar are deriving the CM away from strengthening the party. We are being sidelined in the organisation as Kushwaha identified the malaise in the party and resolved to stand shoulder to shoulder with the CM in his bid to bolster the party’s strength,” said a senior leader, who attended the meeting.
National JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, while dismissing the meeting as ‘unauthorised’ and ‘unconstitutional’, took dig at Kushwaha, asking him to tell as how far his parley with leaders in Delhi went through. “We have given Kushwaha all due respect. Now, he is looking somewhere else and targeting someone else. Currently, only the state president of the party has the power to convene a meeting,” he said.
JD(U) MLC and spokesman Neeraj Kumar also took swipe at Kushwaha’s show of strength, claiming that he (Kushwaha) had outright failed in garnering even 10% of the party’s total members of around 75 lahks.
Leader of the opposition in the legislative council Samrat Chaudhary, however, hit out at Nitish Kumar for his failure to stem the rebellion. “Kumar seems to have become sick. He should now take retirement from politics. The Bharatiya Janata Dal (BJP) is ready to set up a hermitage for him at his native village Kalyan Bigha,” said Chaudhary.
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