New Delhi:
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha will contest from Karakat and Ujiarpur Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. The party has declared all its 5 candidates from the state. The RLSP is a constituent of the RJD-led Grand Alliance in Bihar. The other candidates are Aakash Kumar Singh from Purvi Champaran, Brijesh Kumar Kushwaha from Paschim Champaran and Bhudeo Chaudhary from Jamuai.
Kushwaha quit the NDA in December last year to join the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar, partnering the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Hindustan Awam Morcha. He was upset over the BJP ignoring his demands of a larger seat share in the Bihar NDA for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Last month, the RLSP had suffered a major setback last month after one of its founding members -- Ram Bihari Singh -- quit the outfit, accusing Kushwaha of having "betrayed" the people of Bihar by walking out of the BJP-led NDA and joining the opposition Grand Alliance.
Since Kushwaha's exit from the NDA and resignation from the Union council of ministers, followed shortly by his joining the Grand Alliance comprising RJD, Congress and others, the party has lost many of its prominent leaders. The RLSP chief has blamed Nitish Kumar for the troubles in his party.
As per the seat-sharing formula announced the RJD-led grand alliance in Bihar last month, the RJD has got 20 seats, out of which it is giving up one for the ultra-Left party, the Congress has nine, followed by five for Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and three each for Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM and Mukesh Sahni's VIP.
The RLSP, which had already fielded its candidate from Jamui, got Paschim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Ujiarpur and Karakat, Kushwaha's current seat, in addition.
