Patna: Dissident JDU leader and former Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary on Wednesday said he was quitting the party, alleging Dalits were being neglected and not getting due rights under chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The two-term Speaker's departure comes as a setback for the JDU, as he was one of Nitish regime's Mahadalit faces. Uday lost to Jitan Ram Manjhi in the 2015 Assembly polls. Manjhi has since switched his loyalty from the NDA to the RJD and Uday's exit means the NDA losing a Dalit face.

Uday alleged that atrocities against women and Dalits have increased manifold under the NDA regime.

"I've been raising several issues for the past eight months and had advised Nitish against going with the BJP but he didn't listen to me," Uday said. "What hurt me most was that party workers from block to district level are feeling neglected. The old guard was not given any position while leaders with strong financial back-up were given top posts in the party. Even on the issue of Dalits and quota, this government is mum so I decided to quit," Uday said over the phone. "I will not join the NDA but I will be under the Grand Alliance of the RJD and the Congress."

JDU national general secretary Shyam Rajak said: "For me it is painful moment. But his charge that the Nitish government does not think about Dalits are baseless. Nitish ji has always thought about Dalits and their development."