Bihar: Will Kushwaha’s displeasure be overcome, Nitish will talk
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday that he would speak to his key political aide Upendra Kushwaha. In fact, Kushwaha who has recently become disgruntled has also started speculating about his exit from JD(U).
JD(U)’s de facto supremo Nitish Kumar was answering reporters’ questions about Kushwaha, the party’s parliamentary board chief, in Gaya district, where he visited as part of a public outreach program “Samadhan Yatra”.
When his attention was drawn to these speculations, the CM quipped with trademark sarcastic humour, “Jara Upendra Kushwaha ko kahiye humse baat karte ke liye.”
Kumar recalled, “Everyone has a right to choose their own path. Kushwaha has drifted apart, only to return to us on more than one occasion.”
There are pictures of Kushwaha with some BJP leaders at New Delhi AIIMS which has gone viral on social media. Kumar said of his party colleague, “He is not well at present. Let him come back. I will talk to him. Last I heard him speak, he is firmly on my side.”
Notably, Kushwaha merged his Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) with the JD(U) two years ago and was rewarded with the party’s top post and a berth in the Legislative Council.
An ambitious protégé of Kumar, Kushwaha had quit the JD(U) in 2013 to form the RLSP in alliance with the NDA, tasted success in the Lok Sabha elections a year later and won a berth in the Union Council of Ministers.
Kushwaha, a volatile leader, became uncomfortable with Kumar’s return to the NDA in 2017, which led him to quit the alliance and quit his ministerial post.
After spending several years in political exile, he is finally resurrected by his former master.
However, Kumar’s firm refusal to have another deputy CM apart from RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, the largest constituent of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar, angered Kushwaha, who is believed to be vying for the post.
