Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar got a shot in the arm with Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) national vice-president Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha joining the Janata Dal United (JDU) along with 1,200 leaders and workers on Friday.

Kushwaha and his supporters joined Nitish’s party at the JDU headquarters here in the presence of state party president and Rajya Sabha MP Bashishtha Narayan Singh, JDU chief whip in the Assembly and MLC Sanjay Gandhi and others.

Those who quit former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP to join the JDU along with Bhagwan, included several general secretaries, president of minority and other wings, and district-level leaders.

Welcoming Bhagwan to the party fold, Bashishtha said: “We are happy to have him back in our party. He is a well-known social worker and was previously a colleague of Nitish in his cabinet. He was in touch with us for the last few months.”

Bashishtha added that Bhagwan’s presence would be useful to meet the challenges in the forthcoming months.

Bhagwan started his political career with the CPI-ML in Bhojpur district and over the last few decades has been with the RJD, JDU, Jan Adhikar Party and the RLSP. He belongs to the same ‘Kushwaha’ caste that is counted among the OBCs to which Nitish and Upendra belong.

His switch from the RLSP to the JDU is a jolt for Upendra, who recently quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and jointed the RJD-led Grand Alliance.

RLSP’s three legislators, including MLAs Lalan Paswan and Sudhanshu Shekhar, and an MLC Sanjeev Shyam Singh have already announced that

they will remain with the NDA and not follow the footsteps of Upendra.

“I had joined the RLSP with the condition that it would remain with the NDA. But Upendra deserted it. This was not liked by our leaders and party workers. I tried my best to persuade him to remain with the alliance, but for reasons unknown he was not at ease with Nitish,” Bhagwan said.

Bhagwan also asserted that the NDA would not only sweep the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but also win the 2020 Assembly elections that would pose even a bigger challenge than the general elections.

Bhagwan joining the JDU is expected to boost Nitish’s effort to avoid a split of Kushwaha votes over party lines. The Kushwahas account for six-seven per cent votes in the state. It is the second largest chunk of voters after the Yadavs, who account for around 14 per cent votes.