Discord within RLM as three of its MLAs ditch ‘Litti Chokha’ party to meet BJP’s Nitin Nabin

PATNA: All is not well within Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) as three of its four MLAs abstained from a ‘Litti Chokha’ party held at party chief and Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha’s residence in Patna.Meanwhile, the absent MLAs—Madhav Anand, Rameshwar Mahto and Alok Singh—were in a meeting with BJP’s national working president Nitin Nabin in New Delhi on Wednesday.RLM is a part of BJP-JD(U) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which registered a landslide victory in recently concluded Bihar assembly elections.In a photo shared on social media by Madhav Anand, the three MLAs were seen with BJP’s newly elected national working president, allegedly discussing the induction of Kushwaha’s son Deepak Prakash as minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. Deepak Prakash is neither a member of legislative assembly nor legislative council. RLM chief has been accused of promoting dynastic politics by his own party leaders, who were denied ministerial berths in the new NDA government. The RLM chief was trolled by followers of the party on social media as well. “RLM has become a family-centric party. Kushwaha first made his wife an MLA and then his son a cabinet minister in the new NDA government in the state,” remarked a party worker in his social media post on the contentious issue.Rameshwar Mahto expressed his dismay saying, “This decision of the party has sent wrong message about party’s ideology.”A senior RLM leader, however, defended the MLAs’ meeting and said that the meeting of MLAs with BJP national working president was nothing unusual. “It was a courtesy meeting with Nitin Nabin after the latter’s appointment on the post. There is no political significance of the meeting,” the leader said.RLM general secretary and spokesperson Rampukar Sinha, however, asserted that the party was fully intact and its all four MLAs stood firmly behind the party’s leadership.Meanwhile, union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi reacted sharply to Upendra Kushwaha’s remarks that he (Manjhi) should not demand a Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar. Manjhi said that the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has raised the demand of a Rajya Sabha seat before the NDA allies. “Every political party does it. The demand is not out of context. Every ally has the right to put forth its demand at the right forum,” he told the media in Jehanabad on Thursday.Five Rajya Sabha seats are likely to fall vacant from Bihar.



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