Union Minister and President of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Upendra Kushwaha, whose party is part of BJP-lead NDA alliance, on Thursday 1 November announced that the post of chief minister of Bihar could soon have a vacancy as the incumbent CM “wants to step down after 2020 polls in the state,” NDTV reported.
Kushwaha's comments came during a meeting with party's youth workers in Patna where he claimed that after 15 years in power, Kumar was inclined to move on. He also insisted that no one knows the Bihar CM better than him, the NDTV report added.
During the meeting, the union minister stressed that the statement should not be interpreted as a demand of the chief minister’s resignation, adding that no one can force Kumar to exit against his wishes.
Not the First Time for Kushwaha
In August, without revealing names, the RLSP chief had stated that “some people do not want to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister again in 2019.”
At the time, many believed that the comments were made by Kumar, however, Kushwaha's recent statement hints at an unrest within the BJP-led NDA alliance, NDTV reported.
Last week, after a meeting with Kumar, BJP President Amit Shah had announced that both BJP and the Janata Dal (United) will contest an equal number of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In the same press conference, Shah had said that BJP will continue to ally with Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and Kushwaha’s RLSP. However, following the Shah-Kumar meeting, Kushwaha told news agency ANI that nothing has been finalised on seat sharing.
“Nothing is final on seat sharing. Amit Shah ji also said that we will finalise it in a few days.”Upendra Kushwaha
Similarly, on Tuesday, 30 October, the RLSP chief met LJP president Paswan as both leaders are believed to have discussed BJP-JD (U) seat sharing formula, PTI reported.
The meeting between the two added fuel to the speculation that NDA allies are upset about the Nitish Kumar-BJP deal, NDTV reported.
(With inputs from NDTV and PTI.)
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