Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief and Bihar NDA ally Upendra Kushwaha’s decision to get his inexperienced son Deepak Prakash into the new Nitish Kumar cabinet has triggered a wave of resignations.
Led by RLM vice-president Jeetendra Nath, seven key leaders quit on Wednesday in protest. They accused Kushwaha of sidelining the party’s four newly elected MLAs to elevate his son. Among those who resigned were party state president Mahendra Kushwaha, spokesperson Rahul Kumar and three general secretaries.
Dressed in casual jeans and a shirt, 36-year-old Deepak had raised eyebrows when he walked onto the stage in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan last week to take oath as a minister. His sudden elevation, despite not being a member of the Bihar legislature, angered several RLM leaders. Many within the party had expected Kuswaha’s wife Snehlata — an elected MLA — to be inducted into the cabinet instead.
Nath, in his resignation letter, did not directly refer to Deepak’s elevation but flagged “some recent political and organisational decisions” that made him “uncomfortable”. “It is not possible to work in the party in such a situation, therefore I am resigning from the primary membership,” he said, recalling his close association with Kushwaha over the last nine years.
RLM spokesperson Kumar accused Kushwaha of promoting his son without taking the newly elected MLAs and other key party leaders into confidence. “Deepak is well educated and young. But Kushwaha ji should have discussed with the newly elected MLAs and party leaders his decision to promote his son,” Kumar told reporters.
Kushwaha declined to comment on the spate of resignations, though leaders close to him termed the development as “insignificant”. “Most of the leaders who have resigned were upset even before Deepak became a minister. They had wanted tickets for themselves or their close relatives,” a close aide of Kushwaha said.
Facing mounting allegations of nepotism, Kushwaha last week sought to defend the appointment of his son, arguing that it was necessary to preserve his small party. “If you have placed our decision in the category of nepotism, then please understand my compulsion a little. This step of mine was not just necessary but inevitable to save and sustain the party’s existence and future,” he had said in a long post on X.
He also recalled the collapse of his earlier outfit, the RLSP, after several elected leaders defected. “People won and then left. The coffers remained empty. We reached zero. It was necessary to rethink so that such a situation doesn’t arise again,” he
had said.
Kushwaha, a prominent OBC Koiri caste leader, started his political career in the JDU and was once considered close to Nitish. The relationship soured, reportedly over his chief ministerial ambition.