
“Having served in your Council of Minister for the last 55 months, I stand dejected and betrayed by your leadership,” he wrote to Modi.
Caravan News
NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bihar ally and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and resigned as a Minister in the Modi government.
Kushwaha, who has been at loggerheads with the BJP for some time, sent his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he (Modi) had failed to live up to the promises made to the people of Bihar, reports IANS.
“Nearly five years ago I joined the National Democratic Alliance, under your leadership, with tremendous hope and expectations. During the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 you made several commitments to the people of Bihar and to the nation at large. It was in this context that I had extended my unconditional support to the BJP,” Kushwaha wrote in his resignation letter.
“Having served in your Council of Minister for the last 55 months, I stand dejected and betrayed by your leadership,” he wrote to Modi.
“There has been a fundamental conflict in what you have promised to the people before elections and what you have actually delivered after coming to power,” wrote Minister of State for Human Resource Development in the Modi government in his resignation letter.
The move was expected one because of Mr Kushwaha’s growing resentment with Nitish Kumar in Bihar and his dominance in seat sharing for the next Lok Sabha elections.
His sharpest public expression of revolt against the NDA came in a strongly-worded statement by the RLSP expressing concern over what it believed were objectionable and unnecessary decisions taken by the BJP and the central government.
“We are not opposed to construction of mosques and temples. But this is not the function of political parties and their meddling in such matters causes tensions in the society and diverts the attention of the public from real issues,” said the RLSP’s resolution which also strongly criticised Nitish government, according to NDTV.
Mr Kushwaha is also expected to join a big opposition meet in New Delhi on Monday to discuss a common strategy to fight the BJP next year.
He was in regular contacts with opposing leaders in the wake of growing differences with NDA for some time now. He is also reported to have met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday before sending his resignation to PM Modi.
(With inputs from media)