Patna: Another BJP ally has raised concerns over growing social tension in Bihar.

RLSP chief and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha has expressed concern over "some persons" trying to create social strife in Bihar. "Chief minister Nitish Kumar should take strong action against such persons," he said, stressing that Bihar had multiple religious background and people lived here in social harmony. Kushwaha's statement was issued by the national general secretary of the party, Fazal Imam Malik.

Kushwaha's statement reflects the discomfort level of BJP allies after a series of incidents following the bypoll results in Araria, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur.

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan had stressed the need for the BJP to win the confidence of the minorities. He was backed by chief minister Nitish Kumar and now the RLSP's Upendra Kushwaha has joined in. All these leaders have at one stage or the other sworn by secularism. "But now the BJP is out to play the social divide. Small political parties like us will become irrelevant," said an RLSP leader.

There has been speculation about Upendra Kushwaha switching his loyalty to Lalu before the Lok Sabha polls. Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has repeatedly said that Kushwaha was "in touch with RJD leaders". Kushwaha has kept on denying it. "The problem is he is hardly given any work as Union minister and since Nitish's entry in the NDA he feels even more uneasy," said a senior RJD leader.

"Union minister Giriraj Singh and Union minister Ashwani Choubey's son Arijit Sasawat's recent actions, to allegedly foment trouble, have come in handy for the RLSP chief to train his gun at both Nitish and the BJP," said a senior JDU leader.