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New Delhi: After a prolonged battle over the seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar for the 2019 national polls, union minister Upendra Kushwaha on Monday quit the government and exited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Kushwaha was Minister of State for Human Resource Development. He is upset over the BJP’s seat-sharing deal with another of its allies Nitish Kumar.
“Having served in your council of ministers for last 55 months, I stand dejected and betrayed by your leadership. There has been fundamental problem in what you promised to the people before elections and what you have actually delivered after coming to power,” Kushwaha wrote in his resignation letter to Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
He accused Modi of “systematically dismantling” the functioning of the Cabinet that is mandated in the Constitution.
“Under your leadership, the union cabinet has been reduced to a mere rubberstamp, simply endorsing your decisions without any deliberation. Ministers and officers posted in ministries have become figureheads as virtually all decisions are taken by you and your office,” the former minister said. Targetting BJP chief Amit Shah, he said the priority of the current government was not to work for the poor but to fix political opponents by hook or crook.
“Investigative agencies are being controlled by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and BJP president with the sole purpose of harassing leaders with contrarian views,” Kushwaha stated.
He expressed resentment after the BJP and Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) reached an agreement that the two parties would contest 17 seats each in Bihar. The total number of parliamentary constituencies in the state is 40.
As per tentative arrangement, Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) was to be given two seats.
He flayed the NDA government over “objectionable and unnecessary decisions” taken by it in the last four years.
“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,” Kushwaha said.
His party RLSP passed a resolution stating that “it gives rise to the suspicion that the largest party in the coalition ruling the centre, and some of its leaders, are deliberately trying to make the people forget about poverty, illiteracy and unemployment and get swayed by emotive issues. The party strongly condemns this attitude.”
