Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, which recently broke ties with the BJP, on Thursday joined the ‘mahagathbandhan’ or grand opposition alliance in Bihar after a meeting with the alliance leaders in Delhi. United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
Leaders of the mahagathbandhan in Bihar, including Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Shaktisinh Gohil met at the Congress office in Delhi.
“It’s a matter of happiness that Upendra Kushwaha is joining the mahagathbandhan,” senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said after the meeting.
Patel had met Kushwaha after he quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The UPA believes that Kushwaha’s decision to join it will help it build a momentum against the NDA in Bihar, PTI reported.
Besides BJP, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP are other constituents of the NDA.
The saffron alliance had swept the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, winning 31 of the state’s 40 seats.
(With PTI inputs)