RLM president Upendra Kushwaha mocks Tejashwi’s ‘dance’, says Patna should be renamed Pataliputra

Patna: Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) president Upendra Kushwaha on Friday combined sharp attacks on opposition leaders with a strong pitch for renaming Patna as Pataliputra and implementing constituency delimitation while addressing his party’s ‘Constitutional Rights-Delimitation Reform Maharally’ at the Miller High School ground in Patna.Referring to the viral video of RJD’s CM face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav dancing with youngsters on Ganga Path, Kushwaha said, “Dancing on the banks of Ganga will not make anyone CM. Had it been so, the greatest dancer would have been the Prime Minister of the country. He is young and I advise him to avoid such dance and focus on improving his image in public.” He further alleged that the RJD “has nothing to do with development”.The RLM chief also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying the special intensive revision of electoral rolls had “never been an issue” and that Rahul’s yatra “started on zero and ended on zero”.Striking a note of unity within the NDA, he said, “If some of the NDA leaders avoid self-goal and fight unitedly, the coming assembly election results will be better than in the Lok Sabha polls last year. No matter how much the opposition parties try, they will not succeed. The NDA lost some seats last time due to self-goal. Therefore, in this election, it is important that all the allies unite and ensure the victory of the NDA candidates.”

He praised PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar for their “recent decisions and welfare works” in Bihar.In an oblique reference to CM Nitish Kumar, the RLM chief said had Jagdeo Prasad named his political heir, his ‘Shoshit Samaj Dal’ would have survived. “My voice must be reaching the people sitting nearby,” he said, while referring to the JD(U) office adjacent to Miller High School ground where Kushwaha was addressing the rally on the death anniversary of socialist leader Jagdeo Prasad.

He had earlier suggested that Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar should take charge of the JD(U).On broader issues, Kushwaha urged that Patna be renamed as Pataliputra. “I request the Centre and state government to rename Patna as Pataliputra to keep the legacy of Emperor Ashoka alive,” he said, invoking the city’s historic past.He strongly advocated for delimitation of constituencies, arguing that had it not been frozen during the Emergency in 1976, Bihar would today have 60 Lok Sabha seats.

“Since the first Census in 1881, the states of south India benefited from their population increase and delimitation of constituencies in independent India since the 1951 Census. But when the turn of the North came, the Congress amended the Constitution.

I believe PM Narendra Modi will do justice with the states like UP and Bihar in 2026 when the Census figures come out,” he saiod.Speaking on the education system on Teachers’ Day, he recalled his earlier interactions as union minister of state for education.

“I asked students about their dreams and was surprised to hear that no one wanted to be a teacher. Time has changed. According to a report, 60% of the educational institutions in the US and Europe are using artificial intelligence. Robots will teach the students and we have to compete with them.

We must arrest the downfall in the education system by providing a good environment and incentives to teachers,” he said.Kushwaha concluded by reaffirming that his politics was issue-based. “I never work for a post, but for issues of public interest. Our party’s slogan is ‘Jai Kisan Jai Naujawan’. Our social justice means no discrimination on the basis of caste or religion,” he said.