'NDA insulted me, PM Modi ignored interest of Bihar': Upendra Kushwaha after crossing over to Congress-led UPA

Days after quitting the NDA, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha on Thursday joined the Congress-led UPA.

The announcement of Kushwaha joining the grand alliance of opposition parties in Bihar was made at a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, AICC state in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and opposition leader Sharad Yadav.​

Upendra Kushwaha said that he decided to quit the NDA because he was insulted in that alliance.

Kushwaha accused Nitish Kumar of deliberately insulting him. He alleged that the Bihar CM even used “neech” word for him.

Upendra Kushwaha accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring the interest of Bihar and not keeping the promises made to the OBCs.

Former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said that Kushwaha’s induction will strengthen the alliance in Bihar.

He claimed that the UPA alliance was aimed against those “who had misled the people of the country.”

The former Union minister joined the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) after holding talks with the Congress leadership.

Kushwaha's joining the UPA is likely to give a boost to the formation of a grand alliance in Bihar to counter the NDA combine of Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal(U)-Lok Janshakti Party.

The Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) are already part of the UPA in Bihar and are seeking to give a fight to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The saffron alliance had swept the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, winning 31 of the state's 40 seats. 

Watch: Upendra Kushwaha joins UPA