Talks on, no decision yet on seat sharing: Kushwaha

Amidst reports that his party was offered two seats to contest in the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar, Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha announced his party RLSP’s first list of 66 candidates for the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, a move which is seen as a pressure tactic to bargain for more seats in Bihar.

After a meeting with BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav, who is incharge of Bihar, Kushwaha ruled out any rift within the NDA over seat sharing in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and said that discussions were on as his party the RLSP wanted a “respectable agreement”.

Sources in the RLSP camp told IANS that Kushwaha was not happy with the offer and would not compromise on its demand for not less than three seats.

However, he ruled out breaking his party’s alliance with the NDA and said he met Yadav to convey his party’s stand on seat sharing.

“The meeting with Yadav was positive. However, we cannot disclose our demand as the seat sharing talks are still going on,” he told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference at his residence here.

The Junior HRD Minister in the Narendra Modi government denied reports of his resignation and said he would meet BJP chief Amit Shah in the next few days.