RLSP Chief Upendra Kushwaha Returns To Nitish Kumar's JDU After 8 Years Of Split, Welcomed With Top Party Post
Upendra Kushwaha on Sunday announced to merge with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party. The merger has come merely two days after the party suffered a major split when over 30 state and district level office bearers joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Almost eight years after parting away from the Janata Dal United (JDU), Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Sunday announced to merge with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party. According to the reports, the returning leader has been named as the Parliamentary Board Chairperson of the parent party.
In a press conference held in Patna today, the former Union Minister Kushwaha said he will go to the JD(U) office later in the day, where further modalities will be worked out.
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News agency PTI quoted Kushwaha saying, "The political situation in the country and the state warrants that all like-minded people come together...I have, therefore, decided that our journey shall continue under the leadership of my elder brother Nitish Kumar."
It is to be noted that the merger has come merely two days after the party suffered a major split when over 30 state and district level office bearers joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Speaking over the development, CM Nitish Kumar in a statement said, "We were in talks with RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha for quite some time. When I discussed it with my party members, they expressed their joy on his thought of merging the party with ours."
In 2020, RLSP right ahead of the crucial assembly polls, snapped its ties with the opposition coalition. Though there were rumours even then of Kushwaha joining hands with JDU, but that time, he partnered with Bahujan Samaj Party and Janwadi Party Socialist to fight the elections.