Patna, November 27: Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday reiterated his dissent against the senior alliance partners of Bihar NDA, claiming that he has been ignored by BJP president Amit Shah "twice". Kushwaha said the last option for him, before walking out of the saffron camp, is to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I am in NDA, but being pushed back. This would be an insult to any party. I tried to meet Amit Shah twice but he was busy. The last option is to meet the PM," said Kushwaha, who is currently the junior HRD Minister in the Modi government. Lok Sabha Elections 2019: BJP Offers Two Seats to RLSP in Bihar.
The RLSP supremo has been weighing his options over the past few months -- ever since the BJP and JD(U) announced that they would be contesting on equal number of Lok Sabha seats.
Kushwaha hopes to meet Modi by early next week. "Let us see what transpires if I get to meet. Then my party will convene on December 4-5 and decide what to do," he added.
Kushwaha had kicked off of speculations of his departure from NDA in August. While addressing a gathering, the RLSP chief had cryptically commented that the milk supplied from Yadavs will make a "perfect kheer" on being mixed with rice grown by Kushwahas.
According to reports, Kushwaha is firm on contesting three parliamentary seats, whereas, the BJP is unlikely to allot him more than 2 seats. "When a new ally (JDU) joins us, then all alliance partners will have to marginally cut their share," Amit Shah said during a recent TV interview, adding that the differences with RLSP would be amicably resolved through discussions.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 28, 2018 12:05 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).