Not upset with NDA; getting one LS seat, plus a council berth: Upendra Kushwaha

Patna: Rashtriya Lok Morcha president Upendra Kushwaha on Wednesday rubbished the suggestion that he was upset with the seat-sharing formula of NDA, which allotted only one Lok Sabha constituency to his party.

The former Union minister, who has been in and out of the BJP-led coalition, also claimed to have received assurance of a Legislative Council berth for his party, besides the Karakat Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.

"It is true we were bargaining for more seats. Just like every other party, we were trying to strike the best bargain. But in an alliance, all constituents have to make adjustments," said the former Karakat MP.

Kushwaha, who floated his party a year ago after quitting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), was conspicuous by his absence at a press conference in Delhi earlier this week when NDA's formula for Bihar was announced at the BJP's national headquarters.

Speculations were rife that he had been left in a tight spot with a tiny share since his party had won three seats in 2014, the last time he fought as an NDA partner. At that time he headed the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP).

However, Kushwaha, who had on Tuesday sought to make a clean breast by sharing photos of himself with BJP's Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde at his Delhi residence, said, "I have been told that my party will be given a Lok Sabha seat and a berth in state legislative council. Our focus, now, is to help the NDA bag all 40 seats in Bihar".

At present, Rashtriya Lok Morcha has no presence in either House of Parliament or the state legislature.

Dismissing speculations that he might approach the opposition bloc INDIA seeking a better bargain, Kushwaha said, "The return to power of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is as certain as the rise of the sun in the east".

Incidentally, Kushwaha had quit the NDA ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, giving up his ministerial berth at the Centre, to join the Mahagathbandhan, which he left a year and a half later, merging RLSP with JD(U). Last year, he quit JD(U), voicing disapproval of Nitish Kumar's alliance with the RJD-helmed Mahagathbandhan, and returned to NDA after forming the new party.