Kushwaha's flaunting of talks with its leaders irks Cong

NEW DELHI: Congress circles are miffed with Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) leader Upendra Kushwaha for tom-tomming his meeting with party leaders to show that he was being sought after for electoral alliances.

Kushwaha lost support of his MLAs in Bihar after he quit the Modi ministry and left the ruling NDA alliance with scathing attacks on the PM's leadership and on chief minister Nitish Kumar. He left well before the BJP rout in three states last week and has been aggressively wooed by Congress ally RJD, making him a potential partner of UPA.

But there is anger over the manner he circulated a picture of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel having tea at his residence last week. Many felt it was not the right way to approach a partnership, especially if he had extended the invitation to the guest. Congress would prefer RJD to deal with Kushwaha instead of reaching out to him directly, given that uncertainty remains over how the relationship would develop.