LJP criticises RLSP chief Kushwaha over human chain

The Lok Janshakti Party today criticised Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha for his "failure" to take NDA constituents along at a human chain here where presence of RJD leaders had triggered speculations of rift within the coalition in Bihar.
Kushwaha had claimed that grassroot level workers of all parties, including those in the NDA, had supported his endeavour though leaders could not participate in the human chain yesterday because of, possibly, other engagements.
"To the best of my knowledge, a proper intimation about the human chain was not given to any NDA constituent. We all learnt about the event through the media. This led to a situation where no prominent leader from the JD(U), the BJP or the LJP was present beside Kushwaha", state LJP president Pashupati Kumar Paras said here.

"The matters were made worse by the unexpected arrival of RJD leaders Shivanand Tiwary and Ramchandra Purve. Though they claimed that they had joined the human chain to support the cause of education reforms, their very presence did leave scope for speculations. This could have been avoided by the RLSP", Paras said.
The presence of RJD leaders had drawn flak from the BJP which had charged the opposition party with trying to create a rift within the NDA.
The JD(U) had said the cause championed by Kushwaha enjoyed its "moral support" but the party could not take part in an event that enjoyed the RJD's backing.

On the other hand, the Congress - the RJD's ally in Bihar - had said that the "cold response" of the BJP and the JD(U) was "a strong message to Kushwaha, a powerful OBC leader in Bihar, to do a rethink on his continuance in NDA".
Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Bhagalpur, senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain asserted, "the NDA is intact in Bihar. Incidents like these do lead to temporary confusions but a coalition as big as ours has the strength to absorb such shocks and move on. Our detractors need not indulge in wishful thinking".