Joining a Cong-led alliance one of many options: Kushwaha

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, who last week snapped his ties with the BJP-led NDA and resigned from the Union council of ministers, on Sunday said joining the Congress-led mahagathbandhan was "one of the many options" before him and a final decision was yet to be taken.

Kushwaha was replying to reporters' queries on his Saturday meeting with senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Akhilesh Prasad Singh in New Delhi.

"I agree that the meeting took place but I cannot divulge in public what we talked about ... joining the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) is one of the many options before our party. We have not taken a final decision so far," said Kushwaha, who was here to address the first congregation of his party since his exit from the NDA.

He declined to answer queries on all three of RLSP members in Bihar's bicameral legislature raising a banner of revolt, accusing him of pursuing his "personal interests" and declaring that they would remain in the NDA.

At the RLSP 'Milan Samaroh', however, Kushwaha tried to downplay the rumblings within his party. "When I reached the Patna airport Sunday, the enthusiasm I saw among party workers was much greater than the jubilation expressed over my becoming a Union minister in 2014," he said.

"It shows that you were not happy with the deal we were being offered. You wanted a greater share and were not content with just one ministerial berth. I salute this sentiment," Kushwaha said in a reference to the souring of his relations with the BJP following his party being offered only two of the 40 seats in the state for the Lok Sabha polls next year.

The RLSP has three Lok Sabha members, including Kushwaha himself.

While RLSP's MP from Jehanabad Arun Kumar has been charting a separate path for the past two years, Sitamarhi Parliamentarian Ram Kumar Sharma initially showed pro-Nitish inclination, but later sided with Kushwaha.

Sharma was seen at the Delhi press meet when the RLSP chief announced quitting the ministry and the NDA.

Training his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kushwaha alleged, "I could not get even two minutes from him, who headed the Council of ministers of which I was a member of. I wanted to explain to him how we were getting a raw deal to placate Nitish Kumar."