Blow for Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP in Bihar as two MLAs, one MLC from party switch camps to JD(U)

The mahagathbandhan in Bihar suffered a setback after the Lok Sabha polls after two MLAs and one MLC belonging to the Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) switched camps to JD(U) on Sunday, CNN-News18 reported.

The MLAs who have quit are Sushanshu Shekhar and Lallan Paswan. The MLC who has quit is Sanjiv Shyam Singh, News-18 Hindi reported.

In the results of the seven phase Lok Sabha polls declared on 23 May, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bagged 39 of 40 seats. The Congress won one seat in the state and the mahagathbandhan – comprising of RLSP, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Vikassheel Insan Party (VIP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) – were defeated in all constituencies.

This was also the first time that the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD did not win a single seat in a Lok Sabha election in the state.

Bihar Congress unit president Kaukab Qadri on Saturday said that disproportionate ticket distribution among allies, especially in strongholds of the Rahul Gandhi-led party, like Darbhanga, Aurangabad and Karakat, was the reason for the rout of the Congress-RJD alliance. “We had never thought that the seats from our quota will be given to the new allies. RLSP got five seats and its president Upendra Kushwaha contested from two seats while others were crying for one seat. Similarly, Mukesh Sahni was very inexperienced but was still given three seats,” Qadri told ANI.

In 2014, the BJP allied with the Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party in Bihar. However, the RLSP later joined the UPA.

- With inputs from ANI