Lok Sabha election 2019: Upendra Kushwaha to join UPA today, will be a part of Bihar's 'Mahagathbandhan'

In the run up to the Lok Sabha polls of 2019, the sidelined leader Upendra Kushwaha is all set to join the United Progressive Alliance after he left the BJP.

In the seat sharing deal, the NDA had given him a mere 2-3 seats to contest Lok Sabha election and other allies like Nitish Kumar’s JDU got 17 and Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP got 3 seats but Kushwaha was unhappy from a long time over it.

The Congress party will be holding a press conference along with the Rashtriya Janta Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav, HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha in Delhi for the formal announcement.

A close associate of Kushwaha told The Indian Express that “Our leader has met senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel and RLSP’s message about joining UPA has been conveyed to AICC president Rahul Gandhi. As the UPA is meeting on Thursday, the RLSP chief will most likely join UPA on Thursday.”

Upendra Kushwaha has already been invited by the Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav to join the grand alliance and contest together in Bihar. A leader of the RJD said, “Though Kushwaha has been demanding six seats, it looks too optimistic. He may get four or maximum five seats.”

In 2014, the BJP had swept the Lok Sabha seats in Bihar after winning 31 out of 40.

The RJD leader further said that, “We have to see winnability of candidates. Seats which will be offered to Kushwaha will surely have good OBC Koeri and EBC Dhanuk votes. If Kushwaha dents Nitish Kumar’s Koeri-Kurmi vote base, he would prove to be an asset for us.”

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