Rashtriya Lok Samata Party our natural ally, says Rashtriya Janata Dal

PATNA

: The state Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Monday welcomed the decision of

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party

(

RLSP

) chief Upendra Kushwaha to sever ties with the BJP-led NDA and resign from the Union council of ministers.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Madan Mohan Jha said Kushwaha took the right decision at the right time. “After Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Kushwaha is another mass leader who has come forward to fight against the communal forces,” Jha said.

RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwari said Kushwaha had several differences with the NDA. “He was upset with the BJP over the issue of construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya. Kushwaha was also vocal against the education policy of Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government,” Tiwari said.

RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan held Nitish responsible for “insults” meted out to Kushwaha in the NDA. “Like us, Kushwaha is the follower of Lohia, Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. We are natural allies. He should have deserted the NDA much earlier,” Gagan said.

However, Gagan refused to comment on the number of Lok Sabha seats the Grand Alliance would offer to the RLSP in 2019 in the event of the party joining the opposition front. “Seat-sharing is not an important issue. We will sit together and sort it out,” he added.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s younger son and leader of opposition in state assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had invited Kushwaha to join the Grand Alliance a day after the RLSP chief skipped the get-together of senior NDA functionaries in Patna in June this year.

Kushwaha had met Tejashwi at a circuit house in Arwal on October 26 hours after BJP chief Amit Shah announced 50:50 seat-sharing pact with the JD(U). Though Kushwaha had termed the meeting as a mere co-incidence, sources said seat-sharing arrangement was discussed between the two netas.


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