NO LUV LOST WITH KUSHWAHA, PART-II

Bihar's political waters, prone to frequent crosscurrents and shifting of course as it is, look B set to encounter yet another little sinkhole-call it a revolt within a revolt.

- By Amitabh Srivastava

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asked party leader Upendra Kushwaha to "quit the Janata Dal (United) if he so wishes", but the latter refuses to comply, arguing that he cannot leave without "getting his due share". It was only in March 2021 that the 62-year-old former Union minister had merged his Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) with the JD(U)-staging his second homecoming, one that now looks likely to be much more short-lived than his first one, in 2009-13.

JD(U) sources say Kushwaha fancied himself as a successor to Nitish, but the idea didn't get much traction in the party, hence the dissenting note. He now holds the post of JD(U) parliamentary board president, and for all purposes is No. 3 after Nitish and party president Rajiv Ranjan Singh a.k.a. Lalan Singh. But it seems this wasn't enough, and Kushwaha was left peeved by two things: not being included in the state cabinet, and Nitish's decision to promote RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as his possible successor as CM.