Upendra Kushwaha meets Amit Shah, sparks speculation

Upendra Kushwaha met Union home Amit Shah late on Thursday and sparked speculation that the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD) could join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The meeting came two months after Kushwaha resigned from Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and floated RLJD.

BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal, who was present at the 45-minute meeting, said it was a courtesy call.

A second BJP leader, who did not want to be named, said when leaders of two political parties talk for 45 minutes, it cannot only be a courtesy call. “Definitely politics and political equations are discussed.”

The BJP has been trying to reach out to former allies such as Kushwaha and Chirag Paswan of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) since JD (U) quit the NDA last year and formed the government in Bihar in alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress.

Paswan, who holds sway over the Scheduled Caste Paswan community, campaigned for the BJP in a by-poll in December. Kushwaha, who has served as a minister in the BJP-led Union government, belongs to the Other Backward Class Kushwaha community.