The move comes on the heels of a prolonged tussle between him and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over the party’s strategy moving forward and alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
“We have decided to form a new party – Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal. This has been decided unanimously. I have been made its national president. The party will take forward the legacy of Karpoori Thakur. We will work towards rejecting the agreement made with the RJD,” Kushwaha told reporters, adding that he would seek an appointment with the chairman of the state legislative council to give up his membership of the House.
The former Union minister, however, kept his cards close to the chest on the issue of realigning with the BJP-led NDA. “I have learnt a few lessons from my big brother, CM Nitish Kumar, who had resigned from his post citing differences with the RJD, only to form a new government (with the BJP) hours later”.
‘Bihar CM unable to act on his own’
Kushwaha, who was the JD(U)’s national parliamentary board president, added that many in Nitish Kumar’s party had expressed concerns that the Bihar CM was no longer “acting of his own volition”.
Kushwaha accused Kumar of having “pawned” his political capital.
“He [Bihar CM] now acts as per suggestions of people around him. He is unable to act on his own today because he never made an effort to announce a successor … Had Nitish Kumar chosen a successor, he needn’t have looked at neighbours for one,” said Kushwaha, referring to the Bihar CM’s decision to name RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav as the future leader of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the 2025 state assembly polls.
“A new political inning begins today. Barring a few, everyone in the JD(U) was expressing concern … A meeting was held with elected colleagues and the decision was taken … Nitish Kumar did good in the beginning but in the end, the path on which he has started walking is bad for him and Bihar,” said Kushwaha.
Simmering dissent
In an act of defiance that felt short of being a show of strength, Kushwaha had convened a two-day open session (February 19-20) of JD(U) workers in Patna in which he sought suggestions from the party workers for the future political strategy moving forward.
One of the participants of the meeting told ANI that the JD(U) workers revealed their intentions to form a new political outfit on the first day of the session.
Close associate of Kushwaha and member of the JD(U) national executive council, Madhaw Anand, recently alleged that the party’s national president, Lalan Singh, was deliberately working “not only to bring down the dignity of the party, but also to humiliate the Bihar CM”.
“Some senior leaders of JD(U) are engaged in destroying the party so that it can merge with the RJD,” he had alleged.
On his part, Lalan Singh said: “Kushwaha keeps ranting about the party getting weak. He should tell us what his contribution was when the party undertook a membership drive last year. He spent the entire time away in Delhi. We wonder if his clandestine negotiations in Delhi have been fruitful.”
Repeated differences and exits
Kushwaha was previously expelled by the JD(U) in 2007 following differences with Nitish Kumar. He launched the Rashtriya Samata Party in February 2009, which merged with the JD(U) in November 2009.
In 2013, Kushwaha reigned from the JD(U) protesting Nitish’s “autocratic ways” and founded the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.
Eight years later, Kushwaha merged his party with the JD(U) and he was made the party’s parliamentary board president and was nominated to the Legislative Council.
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch Upendra Kushwaha quits JD(U), floats Lok Rashtriya Janata dal