Upendra Kushwaha joins 'Grand alliance', Opposition to get a boost in Bihar

Disenchanted with the BJP over its offer of seats for the upcoming parliamentary polls, Kushwaha also said Nitish Kumar "wanted to destroy" him and his party

Upendra Kushwaha, the junior HRD minister in Narendra Modi’s government who recently resigned, formally joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Thursday. The Bihar-based Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) leader had quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance on December 10, citing differences with the BJP and the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United).

At a press conference in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office, Kushwaha said, “The alliance of RLSP and other UPA constituents is not merely an electoral formula. It is a coming together of similar ideologies.”

“Yeh dalon ka mel nahin, dilon ka mel hai (This is not a