Nitish Kumar meets JDU Kushwaha leaders, says party has taken care of community

Without naming Kushwaha on Sunday, the Bihar Chief Minister said he was being targeted by the ones he “gave political backing and standing” to. When Samata Party merged with JD (U) and it had more MLAs than alliance partner BJP in the late 1990s, Nitish had chosen to make Kushwaha the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. JD (U) later sent him to Rajya Sabha twice.

The meeting on Sunday was attended by Kushwaha leaders such as Purnia MP Santosh Kushwaha and Education Minister Krishna Nandan Verma. A senior JD (U) leader said, “The CM has definitely been upset with recent onslaught by RLSP leaders, right from Upendra Kushwaha to others such as RLSP working president Nagmani and party spokesperson Jitendra Nath.”

Speaking on the seat-sharing arrangement between NDA allies in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Nath had demanded that RLSP be given more seats to contest than the JD(U). He had also said Kushwaha should be made the NDA’s face in the Bihar.

Another JD(U) leader said, “The CM recalled how the party always stood for the Kushwaha community and helped some Kushwaha leaders rise. He said that though he had been attacked, he would not respond to jibes”.
The JD(U) leader said that it was pointed out at the meeting that the party had given tickets to 17 Kushwaha leaders in the 2015 Assembly polls — 11 went on to win. It was also pointed out that of the two JD (U) Lok Sabha MPs, one comes from the community. Kushwahas account for nearly nine per cent of the state’s population.

While the RLSP chief has been quiet amid speculation that the BJP is not willing to give the party more than two seats for the 2019 polls, his aide Nath has formed Dhanuk Kurmi Ekta Manch to mobilise OBC Kurmis and EBC Dhanuks. Though the manch has not extended support to any party, it is apparent that it will back the RLSP.