4 min readPatnaAug 7, 2026 05:34 AM IST
First published on: Aug 7, 2026 at 05:30 AM IST
Amid pressure from the BJP to merge with it, the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) seems to have got a reprieve, albeit for only seven months, with its leader and Bihar’s Panchayati Raj Minister Deepak Prakash getting nominated to the Legislative Council on August 5.
With this, Prakash, son of RLM chief and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha, will continue to serve as a minister in the Samrat Choudhary-led Cabinet. His tenure as an MLC will expire in March 2027, when 12 council seats fall vacant, triggering the possibility of a fresh round of intense negotiations between the BJP and its ally.
Prakash became an MLC after BJP leader Devesh Kumar resigned from his position, seven months before the completion of his term, to make way for the former’s nomination.
Prakash served as a minister for nearly six months, without holding a seat in either House, across the tenures of former CM Nitish Kumar and incumbent Samrat Choudhary, separated by a 22-day gap.
Following the Supreme Court’s direction last week, asking the Bihar government to respond to a PIL challenging Prakash’s continuation as a minister, the RLM leader seems to have received a seven-month reprieve before fresh nominations are invited for 12 MLC posts that will fall vacant around the same time next year.
Sources in the BJP said while Kushwaha had the option of appointing his wife Snehlata, an MLA from Sasaram, or any of his party’s other three MLAs as a minister, he insisted on securing a post for his non-legislator son.
‘Tactful bargainer’
“The NDA could have granted the RLM one MLC berth during the recent vacancy of 10 seats, but the BJP expected Kushwaha to merge his party with us. Previously, the party had given Kushwaha a Rajya Sabha term with the same expectation of an RLM-BJP merger,” said a BJP leader, describing Kushwaha as a “tactful bargainer and political survivor”. Kushwaha’s party represents a segment of the Koeri (Kushwaha) vote bank.
The BJP also seems to be recalculating the extent to which it can accommodate the demands of Kushwaha, given the changed political scenario in Bihar. “Now that the BJP has Samrat Choudhary, a prominent Kushwaha leader, as CM, why should the party continue to pamper Upendra Kushwaha? The RLM chief will face another tough hurdle after seven months,” said the BJP leader.
“For now, we have accepted the seven-month term for Prakash as there was no other immediate alternative available. People can keep talking about the BJP putting merger pressure on us, but the fact remains that we are an independent political entity,” said an RLM leader.
The recent political developments in the state centre on the constitutional mandate under Article 164(4), which dictates that an un-elected individual serving as a cabinet minister must be elected or nominated to either the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council within six months of assuming office. Prakash reached the threshold of his six-month grace period across cabinet iterations under JDU’s Kumar and current CM Choudhary, leading to a legal challenge in the Supreme Court via a PIL.
To avert Prakash’s removal from the Bihar cabinet, BJP leader Kumar surrendered his MLC seat seven months early. This vacated a Governor-nominated slot, enabling immediate nomination without the need to wait for an election cycle.
The RLM may have secured a seat for now, but the recent developments highlight growing friction within the ruling coalition in Bihar.
Bihar Panchayati Raj Minister Deepak Prakash, (second right), greets Council chairman Abhidesh Narayan after taking oath as member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly Council in Patna on Thursday. (PTI) 
Share
