Kushwaha's RLSP heading for 'split'

Rift within the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) appears to be widening with the party MLAs-Lalan Paswan and Sudhanshu Shekhar-having declared to stay with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

"Ours is the real RLSP," said Lalan Paswan, while pitching for a ministerial birth for Sudhanshu Shekhar, a first time MLA of the party. "We represent the real RLSP. We are all together. The party is ours," he told ANI on Saturday.

Paswan's comment coincides with former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, who claims to be RLSP president, meeting Congress heavyweight and MP Ahmed Patel at his (Kushwaha's) residence in New Delhi. It is being claimed that Kushwaha is likely to join the Congress along with his supporters.

"We have demanded that Sudhanshu Shekhar should be made a minister in the NDA government. I have been saying right from the beginning that we are in the NDA since the inception and will remain with it," said Paswan.

"We want to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again in 2019. We have no relations with Upendra Kushwaha Ji now, as he has joined hands the grand alliance," added Paswan.

Kushwaha on Monday pulled out of the NDA and launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Modi led NDA's Central government, saying: "The promise of providing Bihar with a special package has been the biggest 'jumla' (empty promise)." He also accused the BJP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of trying to destroy his party.

Kushwaha, who also quit as the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, targeted the Prime Minister, saying: "Narendra Modi ji could not meet the expectations of the people of Bihar. Nothing was done on the front of granting special status for Bihar, which is still where it was earlier. Education and health system is non-existent. Nothing was done for Bihar."

RSLP chief in November had said that he was upset over seat-sharing with the BJP in Bihar for the coming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Soon after BJP president Amit Shah announced that his party and Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) would fight on an equal number of seats, Kushwaha demanded a larger share in the Lok Sabha seats.