Kushwaha Seeks Time From PM Modi as Tension Over Seat Sharing in Bihar Intensifies

New Delhi: A day after tweeting that he will not tolerate any insult against his party, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha announced on Monday that he has sought time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the political situation in Bihar.

"To apprise the PM of the political developments in Bihar, I have sought an appointment with him between Nov 27 and 30," said Kushwaha.

On Saturday the RLSP chief had sought the prime minister's intervention to resolve the seat-sharing issue in Bihar NDA.

According to a recent announcement, the BJP and the JD(U) had agreed to contest an equal number of seats in Bihar, out of a total of 40, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This reportedly means fewer seats for the RLSP. The RLSP, as an ally of the BJP in the NDA, had won three seats in the 2014 general election.

The minister of state for human resource development, had Saturday during a RLSP function in Munger, made a fervent appeal to Modi, seeking his intervention to resolve the seat-sharing issue in Bihar NDA, in which RLSP is one among the four constituents, along with the BJP, JD(U) and LJP. "Please do justice with RLSP. We expect justice from you (PM)...I could not meet Amit Shah. I have given additional time of 12-14 days to decide the issue of seat sharing.

"I am ready to meet you (Amit Shah) as per your convenient timing but that (ultimatum) is also running out...I would now seek appointment to meet the PM and I hope that justice would be done to RLSP if PM intervenes in the matter," Kushwaha had said.

Kushwaha had on November 17 given an ultimatum to the BJP to conclude seat-sharing talks by November 30, saying the offer made to the RLSP was not respectable.

Earlier on November 10, the Union minister had demanded that his party be allotted more than three seats in the state by the NDA to contest the 2019 election, given that the RLSP's strength has grown significantly.