Upendra Kushwaha resigns as Union minister and quits the NDA

Upendra Kushwaha, president of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), resigned from the Union council of ministers on Monday and pulled his party out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, just ahead of the start of Parliament’s Winter Session.

The resignation letter

In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kushwaha said he felt dejected and betrayed by the prime minister’s leadership. He wrote that it was unfortunate that the government’s priority was not working for the poor and oppressed but targeting political opponents by any means.

At a press conference, he confirmed his exit. “I have left NDA, other option is open,” he said. He also attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying Kumar had been against him.

Seat-sharing dispute

Kushwaha had been criticising the BJP and Kumar, a key BJP ally, for weeks. He was unhappy after the BJP indicated that the RLSP would be limited to two seats at most when the 2019 Lok Sabha polls came, while it agreed that the BJP and Kumar’s JD(U) would contest an equal number of seats.

Opposition response

A meeting between Kushwaha and Congress president Rahul Gandhi was expected later that day. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Jay Prakash Narayan welcomed the resignation, calling it the right decision for democracy, and said Kushwaha should now plan how to help remove the BJP from power. The RLSP could move to the opposition side, where the Congress and Lalu Prasad’s RJD are partners.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won 303 seats and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.

Originally published on 10 December 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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