New Delhi,Nov 28: Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief and Union minister of state for human resource development Upendra Kushwaha has given November 30, 2018 as the deadline for solving the seat sharing issue but despite threats made by the Union minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to keep him within National Democratic Alliance fold for the political dynamics in Bihar.
Kushwaha had already been told that he will not be given more than two Lok Sabha seats to contest on in Bihar but pressure-truce-pressure tactics continues from both the sides. Sources said that if really something unreasonable is not demanded from him, he is here to stay with the NDA. If he is given two seats in Bihar Lok Sabha, he might be given some more concession like he might be given one legislative council seat (MLC) or anything else but the BJP wants him to stay in the NDA. If Upendra Kushwaha goes out of the NDA in Bihar, leaders like Nitish and Ram Vilash Paswan up to some extent will undermine the BJP. This is the reason Nitish is pushing him to the brinks that he should go out of the NDA so he can manipulate the BJP whenever he wishes to. The BJP is well aware of this fact.
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Sources said that he has a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and can communicate with him directly and before making a final call he would definitely like to meet the PM however all his attempt to meet BJP chief Amit Shah has failed so far. Amit Shah did not give him time and he had to tell his problems to party general secretary Bhupendra Yadav only.
Sources said that once the issue of alliance is settled and all the partners have agreed upon the seat sharing, the presence of Upendra Kushwaha will prove to be very handy for the BJP to rein in other alliance partners of the NDA in Bihar as state chief minister Nitish Kumar too has been very unpredictable. So the BJP does not want to give free hand or steering of the Bihar NDA to leader like Nitish and wants to be ready with any eventuality for which Upendra Kushwaha is the best possible option.
So the BJP will not let him go from the NDA but it is also sure that the party will not succumb to his unreasonable demands and pressure. But will all his efforts Kushwaha will also be able to say his leaders that he fought but could not get what he wished for. So the war of nerve continues in Bihar NDA.