Two days after his “kheer” comment triggered speculation about possible political realignments in Bihar, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Department and president of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party Upendra Kushwaha on Monday made a U-turn and said he “neither sought milk from the RJD, not sugar from the BJP”.
He said he never mentioned any political party in his comment, but spoke for all sections of society to “make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of the country again in 2019”.
Speaking at an event organised on the birth centenary of veteran socialist leader B.P. Mandal in Patna on Saturday, Mr. Kushwaha had said that “if milk from Yadavs and rice from Kushwahas are mixed well, kheer can be prepared”.
Mr. Kushwaha’s comment was seen as a hint towards a possible alliance between Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the RLSP. Soon after the Union Minister’s remarks, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted welcoming his “delicious and nutritious recipe”. Other senior RJD leaders hinted that Mr. Kushwaha would soon join the RJD as “everything has been finalised”.
‘General comment’
However, on Monday, the RLSP leader denied any RJD link to his comment. “I have neither sought milk from the RJD, nor sugar from the BJP. I did not taken name of any party . I had talked about all sections of society... Where and how did the RJD come into the picture? Why are you [media] viewing a particular community as a particular party,” Mr. Kushwaha asked journalists. He also asserted that his party was making efforts to get votes from every section so as to help Mr. Modi become the PM for the second term in 2019 polls.
Reacting to Mr. Kushwaha’s “U-trun”, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader and an ally of the RJD-led Opposition, Jitan Ram Manjhi, said, “Mr. Kushwaha should not sail on two boats. If he wants to come with us he is most welcome, but if he wants to become the Chief Minister, then I have to say that our CM candidate is Tejashwi Yadav.”
Mr. Kushwaha, of late, has been putting pressure on the NDA to finalise seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls and has embarrassed Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar with his critical remarks.
The ruling NDA partners — JD(U) and BJP — tried to downplay Mr. Kushwaha’s “kheer” comment. “What Kushwahaji has said seems like a proverb. Rice, milk and sugar belong to everyone in the country. One should not read anything more into it as he [Kushwaha] has already taken a resolve to make Narendra Modi the PM again in 2019,” said State BJP chief Nityanand Rai.
JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Niraj Kumar said, “It seems more of a proverb than anything else. Upendra Kushwaha had played an important role in uprooting the ‘jungle raj’ from Bihar and he is very much with the NDA.”
