SPLIT IMMINENT IN RLM

30-DEC-ENG 1

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA---------------------------"He himself is in the Rajya Sabha, made his wife an MLA, and appointed his son a minister even though he is not a member of any house. Upendra Kushwaha has taken a self-destructive step." This is what Madhav Anand, a close associate of Upendra Kushwaha and now a disgruntled RLM MLA, has to say. Madhav Anand's statements clearly indicate that a split in the Rashtriya Lok Morcha is inevitable due to the dissatisfaction of the MLAs. Meanwhile, Upendra Kushwaha also avoided media questions, as he had no answer to the media's queries regarding the news of a split in the party.

Recently, Upendra Kushwaha had invited his party's MLAs to a Litti party. However, his three MLAs stayed away from this party and went to Delhi at the last moment. Before this, they had met with BJP's newly appointed National Working President Nitin Naveen, which led to various speculations. It should be noted that Upendra Kushwaha's party has four MLAs: his wife Snehlata, along with Rameshwar Mahto, Alok Kumar, and Madhav Anand.

It is now almost clear that the Rashtriya Lok Morcha is on the verge of a split. Upendra Kushwaha's family favoritism seems to be proving costly for his party. Now it remains to be seen what steps these three MLAs of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha will take after the end of Kharmas (an inauspicious period in the Hindu calendar).