The RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samata Party) on Tuesday decided to contest the coming Assembly election in Bihar in alliance with the BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) after both the Grand Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance gave a cold shoulder to its leader Upendra Kushwaha. Making this announcement in Patna Kushwaha hoped that he would see to it that more parties join this alliance.
Earlier, he returned to Patna late on Monday after top NDA leaders, especially of the BJP, refused to entertain his demands of contesting election as an NDA constituent. According to sources the BJP took the decision to ignore Kushwaha following pressure from chief minister and JDU leader Nitish Kumar, who does not trust Kushwaha any more.
Besides, Kushwaha lacks quality to transfer his caste votes. This was the one reason why even the RJD-led Grand Alliance too showed no interest in having any alliance with RLSP. The RJD top brass has repeatedly been citing the failure of Kushwaha in the last Lok Sabha election which it contested as a GA partner. Kushwaha’s Press conference came a day after the state party chief Bhudeo Chaudhary, a former MP, resigned and joined the RJD.
Bhudeo was considered as a Dalit face of the party and his exit is being considered as a big blow. Apart from him several other leaders of the party, especially belonging to Dalit and Muslim communities, are leaving the party and most of them are crossing over to the RJD. When thenewsweb reached out to a top RLSP functionary he said it is good that the party is contesting as a Third Front constituent.
This would be better for the party in the long run as otherwise the alliance with Nitish Kumar would amount to the death of the party. On being asked as to why the RLSP left the Grand Alliance, he said that the RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was not an appropriate choice for the post of chief minister.
As the RLSP has been overlooked by both the major alliances of Bihar it has lost much of its bargaining position and forced to join BSP which does not enjoy much following in the state.
