RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha quits as Union Minister, likely to quit NDA: Reports

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party president Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned from the Union council of ministers, a day ahead of the start of Parliament’s Winter Sessionand triggering a realignment of political equations in Bihar.

Kushwaha was the Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) in the Government of India.

"Nearly five years ago I joined the National Democratic Alliance, under your leadership, with tremendous hope and expectations. During the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, you made several commitments to the people of Bihar and to the nation at large. It was in this context that I had extended my unconditional support to the BJP," the minister of state wrote in his resignation letter to PM Narendra Modi.

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He has been upset with the BJP after it asserted that the RLSP would not be given more than two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, even as it went out of the way to accommodate Kumar by agreeing that the saffron party and the JD(U) would fight an equal number of seats.

There are reports that the RLSP may join hands with the opposition including Lalu Prasad's RJD and the Congress. According to reports, the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief has been targeting the BJP and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a key ally of the ruling party, for weeks.

(With inputs from PTI)