Mahagathbandhan may lose another ally ahead of Bihar polls, Upendra Kushwaha drops exit hint

New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, the grand alliance or Mahagathbandhan is staring at a split in the alliance as one of its key allies Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) dropped clear hints of exiting the coalition.

Upendra Kushwaha, the RLSP chief, just stopped short of announcing to snap ties with the mahagathbandhan as he called out rigid stance of Lalu’s party RJD in unequivocal terms and said, “unless the RJD changes immediately its rigid stance on leadership issue, we are left with little option but to explore a new political course.”

“If there is a change in leadership of RJD then we are ready to be in the Grand Alliance. Tejashwi Yadav is not in a condition to fight against Nitish Kumar,” Kushwaha said.

Kushwaha-led party has been increasingly being marginalized in the coalition and his demands on seat sharing as well as a consensus candidate for CM face has been frowned upon.

RLSP has given the responsibility to the party chief Upendra Kushwana to decide whether it will contest the upcoming Assembly polls under the Grand Alliance.

Earlier, RLSP secretary-general Madhaw Anand said everything is not well in the Mahagathbandhan and confusion is growing among the people of Bihar that the grand alliance is failing to pose a serious threat to the NDA.

“The coordination between the ally parties is very poor. Tomorrow our party has called a national and state council meeting to discuss the prevailing situation in the Mahagathbandhan and the current political situation of Bihar,” he added.

Kushwaha’s open dare to RJD leadership comes days after former Bihar CM and HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi’s exit from the alliance, who chose to mend fences with his bête noire and former mentor Nitish Kumar. Manjhi had also nursed the ambition of becoming the consensus CM candidate and raised questions on Tejashwi’s style of functioning.