Upendra Kushwaha joins UPA

Days after quitting the NDA, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha joined the UPA on Thursday in the presence of leaders of the grand alliance in Bihar and said they would together work towards ensuring social justice in the state.

The announcement of Kushwaha joining the 'mahagathbandhan' of opposition parties in Bihar came at a press conference at the party headquarters here in the presence of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, AICC state in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, opposition leader Sharad Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi who heads the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).

The former Union minister, who held the education portfolio in the NDA government, joined the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) after holding talks with the top Congress leadership.

On a seat-sharing arrangement with the UPA, he said, "We will take the right decision at the right time."
Asked about Bihar Congress leader Ranjeet Ranjan's remarks that Nitish Kumar is welcome into the grand alliance, Gohil said, "It is a hypothetical question."