Patna, December 5: A bad news is expected to arrive for the Modi government from Bihar where Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) may pull out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. If Upendra Kushwaha quits the NDA, RLSP will be the second alliance partner after Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP to withdraw support from the NDA.

RLSP's two-day brainstorming session over the prevailing political situation in the state concluded on Wednesday. The meeting would be followed by a public meeting in East Champaran district on December 6 in which Kushwaha said he would make a 'big announcement'. Kushwaha had earlier given an ultimatum to increase the number of seats offered to RLSP by November 30. Dissent in Bihar NDA: 'Ignored by Amit Shah Twice, Last Option to Meet PM Modi', Says Upendra Kushwaha.

Kushwaha has been unhappy since the BJP president Amit Shah announced that the saffron party and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) would contest an equal number of seats in 2019 general elections. Although Kushwaha and Kumar share a similar social base, BJP's increasing closeness with the JD(U) has left the RLSP chief fuming.

BJP reportedly offered RLSP two Lok Sabha seats for the 2019 election, but Kushwaha is not ready to settle for anything less than four seats. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA had won 31 out of 40 parliamentary seats. While the JD(U), which quit the alliance just before the polls, could bag just two seats, RLSP had bagged three.

On Monday, Kushwaha dared the BJP to dismiss him as Union minister. Earlier too, he had hinted that all was not well within the ruling coalition with his 'kheer' remark. "One can prepare kheer with milk from the Yadavs and rice from the Kushwahas," he had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 05, 2018 07:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).