"Clarify if deal struck with RJD for making Tejashwi CM face in 2025 polls": Upendra Kushwaha tells Nitish Kumar

Patna (Bihar) [India], February 9 : Janta Dal (United) leader Upendra Kushwaha on Wednesday confirmed that he is very much with the JD(U) and asked Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to come out and clarify if he is backing RJD leader and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav as the CM candidate for 2025 state assembly polls.
"The RJD people keep saying that a deal was struck at the time of formation of the alliance. The CM can put an end to these rumours by announcing that he is not backing Tejashwi Yadav as the CM candidate for 2025 Bihar assembly elections," said Upendra Kushwaha.
Claiming that the JD(U)-RJD deal rumour has created a turmoil within the party, Khuswaha said "Making Tejashwi CM face will lead to the downfall of the party," he added.
He said that he is working towards making the party stronger.
"I am ready to go to the Chief Minister and speak with him whenever he asks. I don't want anything. I just want the party to become stronger," said Kushwaha while speaking to reporters.
"I will remain as a common member of the party. The deal has created trouble for the common people of Bihar. You don't have to name me, name some other person from the JD(U)," he said.
"The party should act according to the wishes of the common people," he added.
"The Chief Minister is not being able to act on his own. He is acting at the behest of others, if he would have acted on his own then would not be putting Bihar back to the condition from where he pulled out the state after an immense struggle," he said.
"I would request Chief Minister Nitish Kumar not to to misled by other people and listen to his heart," he added.
Notably, Upendra Kushwaha has convened two days open session of his supporters in Patna on February 19-20 to discuss the prevailing situation in JDU.
Earlier, Kushwaha had written an open letter to party workers and claimed that JD(U) is getting weaker due to internal reasons.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hit out at Kushwaha saying that all of this has started in the last two months and is only being done for publicity.
Nitish Kumar said, "All this started happening in the last two months. This is being done for publicity. You will get to know soon. When publicity happens, one should understand who is doing it. We have asked people not to comment on this. The party remains unaffected, the membership has only increased since last year. All this is irrelevant."
"If someone wants to come and then leave again, we are least bothered. If one stays and works, it is all okay, but if you keep speaking, you are focused somewhere else," he added.
The Chief Minister also counted the multiple opportunities JDU provided to Kushwaha.
He said, "No need to focus on such things. We gave him (Upendra Kushwaha) so much, made him MLA and party leader then he left but came again and we made him Rajya Sabha MP, he left again and came back for the third time and said that he will remain in the party."
Nitish Kumar further alleged that the opinion of Kuhwaha was different from that of the party.
"We gave him respect, and do not know what happened again. We accepted him for the third time in our party. He can speak whatever he wants to speak. If you will speak every day then that means your opinion is different from ours," he said.
Back in August last year, Nitish Kumar ended his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance.Nitish joined hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav under 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) after quitting his former alliance partner BJP and became the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time.