Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned from Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) and announced the formation of a new party — Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD).
He also declared his intention to resign from the position of an MLC (member of the legislative council).
The move came after a two-day-long discussion between him and several party colleagues in Patna, which ended prior to his announcement.
“Our colleagues asserted that there was a need for a new party. It shall be called Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal. The people supporting it have made me its national president. It will carry ahead the inclusive and socialist legacy of jan nayak (people’s leader) former chief minister Karpoori Thakur,” Kushwaha told reporters.
“I am resigning from the primary membership of the JDU. I will also resign from the post of an MLC. The elder brother (read Nitish) has forfeited the party. It is losing its support base and is shrinking,” he added.
Kushwaha, who was the JDU parliamentary board chairman, took the step as a logical end to his more than a month-long attack on the JDU leadership, including Nitish.
The 62-year-old leader had been voicing concerns about the future of the party and had made public his intention to seek his share from it. He merged his Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) with the JDU in 2021 while rejoining it for the third time during his political career.
Kushwaha became disgruntled after Nitish did not make him the deputy chief minister or give him any other ministerial berth.
The last straw came when the latter virtually declared Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad’s younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as his heir apparent.
“I sacrificed everything to join the JDU after the 2020 Assembly elections. When Nitish wanted to quit the NDA and join hands with the Grand Alliance, I suggested that he should keep the leadership of the new alliance in his hands. But in a little time, the RJD started talking about a deal behind the alliance. Nitish also announced an RJD person’s name as the next chief minister,” Kushwaha said.
