Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha quits Cabinet, says PM has lost credibility

A day before the announcement of results of Assembly elections held in five States — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram — the NDA lost one of its allies in Bihar. Minister of State for Human Resource Development Upendra Kushwaha quit the Union Cabinet on Monday, alleging that the BJP had betrayed him and ditched the “agenda of social justice for the agenda of the RSS”.

Predicting that the BJP will not “be able to open its account in Bihar” in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Kushwaha said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “lost credibility” and failed to fulfil any of the big promises he made to the people in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

‘Bitter experience’

“I have had a very bitter experience with them… I cannot be part of a government which is only interested in implementing the RSS agenda. The NDA lost the Bihar elections because the RSS chief said he was against reservation. In Bihar, where we have fought for social justice for so long, such politics will not lead the BJP anywhere … Their bus will be stopped in Bihar. They will not be able to open their account in Bihar,” said Kushwaha, whose Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) has three MPs in the Lok Sabha.

In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Kushwaha articulated his “bitterness” with Modi, whom he accused of being deceitful. “…I stand dejected and betrayed by your leadership. There has been a fundamental conflict in what you have promised to the people before elections and what you have actually delivered after coming to power.”

Kushwaha said the BJP is “filling universities with RSS men and even appointing them as Vice-Chancellors”. Apart from this, the former NDA ally said, the ruling party is actively polarising the country on communal lines with the renewed bid for construction of a temple at the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri mosque site. “I am not against any temple, mosque or church. But it is not the job of a government to construct temples or mosques. We should be building schools, educating our children and providing healthcare to our people. The RLSP is against the kind of regressive politics the BJP has stooped to practising at the behest of the RSS,” said Kushwaha.

Kushwaha accused the PM and the BJP President Amit Shah of targeting political opponents by “remote-controlling” central investigating agencies.

“It is unfortunate that the priority of the government is not to work for the poor and the oppressed but to fix political opponents by hook or by crook. Investigating agencies are being remote-controlled by your office and the BJP President with the sole purpose of harassing leaders with contrarian views. Constitutional offices are being undermined and virtually every institution in the government has been subjected to political appropriation,” said Kushwaha in his resignation letter to the PM.

The RLSP has three MPs and two MLAs in Bihar Assembly who, said sources, are being lured by Nitish Kumar to join the Janata Dal-United (JD-U).

Kushwaha met the Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday and will reportedly merge with the rebel faction of the JD(U) led by former JD(U) President Sharad Yadav. “All options, including joining the Mahagathbandhan, are open to us. The talks of merging with Sharad Yadavji are not mature yet,” said Kushwaha.

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