Upendra Kushwaha meets Amit Shah, says NDA will form govt

Patna: Amid a tussle within the NDA over allocation of constituencies for the Bihar assembly elections, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday. The former Union minister said the NDA will form govt in the state.“I had said this morning in Patna that some issues within the alliance needed to be discussed and sorted out. Now, I hope there won't be any problems. The NDA govt will definitely be formed, and every constituent party is ready for it,” he said.Kushwaha, who has returned to Patna, however, has not yet announced his six seats or candidates.After meeting Shah, Kushwaha reportedly agreed to relinquish his claim over the Mahua seat in Vaishali district.

It’s believed that the RLM has been assured of an MLC berth as well as the renewal of his Rajya Sabha membership, which is expiring early next year.State BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, who met Kushwaha late in the evening, said the RLM has been assured of an MLC seat. “We discussed the election campaign and nomination schedule. The NDA is going into the elections unitedly. Kushwaha ji will participate in the filing of nomination papers by the NDA candidates from Thursday.

The BJP will also give his party an MLC seat,” Jaiswal said.Later, Kushwaha said he would announce the seats and candidates for the upcoming assembly elections soon. Sources said he may get another seat in lieu of Mahua. Kushwaha has been allotted six seats in the NDA, but confusion prevailed regarding the constituencies.Before leaving for Delhi early in the morning, Kushwaha had said nothing was “well in the NDA”. Union minister Nityanand Rai, who accompanied Kushwaha from Patna to Delhi, had met the RLM chief late on Tuesday night amid reports of his displeasure over some seats, including Mahua, being given to the LJP(RV) of Chirag Paswan.