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Patna, March 3 (IANS) Even as Janata Dal United (JDU) state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh said Upendra Kushwaha and his party RLSP may merge with the ruling party in Bihar, Kushwaha himself isn't ready to open his cards, yet.
"As far as I am concerned, it is right that I have met CM Nitish Kumar twice and had a series of meetings with other top leaders but a decision has not been taken yet," Kushwaha told IANS.
Earlier, Vashishtha Narayan Singh had claimed that talks with Upendra Kushwaha were in the final stages and the merger could take place soon.
"We welcome Upendra kushwaha and his supporters in JDU. We have worked together in a past and we are ready to work again. JDU will give appropriate respect to him and his supporters," Singh had said.
Nitish Kumar and Upendra Kushwaha are popularly known as Luv-Kush in Bihar's political circles.
While Kumar holds sway over the traditional vote banks of Koiri and Kurmi, Upendra has a hold on the Kushwaha community. After parting ways with Kushwaha a large chunk of the Kushwaha vote bank shifted towards RLSP and this had hurt Kumar.
Political experts believe that if both these two leaders contest elections together, it will help both parties. The RLSP did not win a single seat in the Bihar assembly elections of 2020.
After the dismal performance in Bihar assembly election 2020, Nitish Kumar is making all efforts to strengthen his position in the NDA. In the Bihar assembly elections of 2020, the JDU managed to win just 43 seats which is much less than 2015 when the party had won 69 seats.
Recently, Kumar welcomed BSP and independent MLAs in the JDU fold and gave ministerial berth to them in his cabinet. Moreover, 5 MLAs of the AIMIM also met Kumar last month. Besides more than 200 active workers of the LJP also joined the JDU.
Mritunjay Tiwari, the spokesperson of RJD reacted sharply to talk about the JDU-RLSP merger.
"It shows the desperation of Nitish Kumar. He has formed the government by cheating the people of Bihar. He has no importance in the NDA, hence he is adding to his strength through the backdoor," Tiwari said.
"Upendra Kushwaha ji was part of NDA and he was Union Minister of State for HRD. When he switched over to UPA camp on his own, he must be remembering the kind of respect he earned in NDA. He was ignored, abused and sandwiched between the Congress and RJD. It's his politics and surely it will be his decision as to what he will do next and whom he is going to part with," said Nikhil Anand, chief spokesperson of BJP's Bihar unit.
--IANS
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