Seat sharing issue may pose threat for NDA in future: RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha

Hinting at a possible rift with its alliance in Bihar, Upendra Kushwaha, the leader of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party said on Saturday that the conflict of seat sharing with the NDA may pose a threat for the alliance in future.

"Our party has decided not to accept the number of seats offered to us (RLSP) by BJP for the General Elections 2019. We tried to meet BJP chief but could not meet him. Now that the issue is not sorted it might pose a great threat for NDA in future".

He further said that there were some people in Bihar's NDA who do not want to see Narendra Modi as the prime minister in 2019. 

Khushwaha also added that the BJP should decide the number of seats for the RLSP by November end. 

"BJP should decide a respectful number of seats for our party by November end. Now I'll not make any move from my end to meet anyone from BJP. However, I'll try to meet PM once. There are some people in Bihar's NDA who don't want to see Modi Ji be the PM in 2019", he said.

The RLSP chief is at loggerheads with Nitish Kumar over the Bihar chief minister's recent remarks against him. Kumar, also the JD(U) president, had refused to join issue with Kushwaha over seat-sharing between NDA partners in Bihar, saying "Itna neeche baat ko nahi le jaiye" (do not take the debate to such a low level).

Bihar has a total of 40 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP and the JD(U) have decided to contest equal number of seats. The fourth partner of the NDA in Bihar is Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party.