Seat-sharing talks in Bihar positive: RLSP
NEW DELHI National Democratic Alliance constituent Rashtriya Lok Samata Party’s (RLSP) president Upendra Kushwaha said on Tuesday that talks over seatsharing in Bihar are positive but inconclusive, and that his party has conveyed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership what it expects .
RLSP is a partner in the alliance in Bihar that includes the BJP, Janata Dal United (JDU) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Last week, the BJP and the JD(U) announced they would contest an equal number of Lok Sabha seats in the state, which sends 40 members to Parliament. Since then, there has been speculation on whether this would mean fewer seats for the other partners.
Even as both the BJP and RLSP are trying to scotch rumours of a crack in the alliance, Kushwaha who is also a union minister, said all partners in an alliance should be able to share the benefits and losses equally.
“We have told the BJP how many seats we want, but I will not disclose the number,” he said. Kushwaha said he was meeting LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan later in the day and that “if the need arises” he would meet
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EVEN AS BOTH THE BJP AND RLSP ARE TRYING TO SCOTCH RUMOURS OF A CRACK IN THE ALLIANCE, KUSHWAHA WHO IS ALSO A UNION MINISTER, SAID ALL PARTNERS IN AN ALLIANCE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHARE THE BENEFITS AND LOSSES EQUALLY
“both BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
Kushwaha denied that he has resigned from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government and asserted that his party is working to help Modi get a second term. Kushwaha did not hide his displeasure over the reports, indicating that his party will get a smaller number of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP did not comment on this.