Upendra Kushwaha

Upendra Kushwaha (born 6 February 1960) is an Indian politician and former Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India.[2] He is former Member of Parliament from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district, Bihar. He is a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He is leader of his own party the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.[3][4]

Upendra Kushwaha
Ministry of Human Resource Development
In office
26 May 2014 – 10 December 2018
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byShashi Tharoor
Member of the India Parliament
In office
16 May 2014 – 23 May 2019
Preceded byMahabali Singh[1]
Succeeded byMahabali Singh
ConstituencyKarakat
Chairperson
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party
Assumed office
13 March 2013
Preceded byPost Established
Personal details
Born (1960-02-06) 6 February 1960
Vaishali district, Bihar, India
Political partyRashtriya Lok Samata Party (2013—present)
Other political
affiliations		Janata Dal (United) (2004—2013)
Samata Party (2000—2004)
Alma materBihar University
As of March 4, 2016
Source: My Neta

Early life

Upendra Kushwaha was born on 6 February 1960 in Vaishali, Bihar into a middle class family. He graduated from Science College, Patna and then did MA in Political Science from BR Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur. Kushwaha also worked as a lecturer in the politics department of Samata College.Upendra Kushwaha stepped into the world of politics in 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he was the state general secretary of Yuva Lok Dal.

Latter he became National General-Secretary, Yuva Janata Dal, 1988-93. He had also worked as General-Secretary for Samata Party, 1994-2002. Kushwaha was Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly in 2000-2005 and appointed as Deputy Leader (Samata Party) Bihar Legislative Assembly. In March 2004 after loksabha election Sushil Modi was elected to Loksabha and the same time number of MLA's of JD(U) increased than BJP. Since leader of JD(U) changed his party. So kushwaha became leader of opposition.[5][2]

Upendra Kushwaha addressing a gathering, on the occasion of the CBSE Teachers' award 2015, in New Delhi on September 03, 2016.

Political Career

Upendra Kushwaha was dismissed from the Janata Dal (United) in 2007.[6] Kushwaha founded the Rashtriya Samata Party in February 2009. The party was formed in the backdrop of alleged marginalisation of the Kushwaha(Koeri) caste and autocratic rule by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. The formation of the party was supported by Chhagan Bhujbal, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.[7] In November 2009, the party was merged into the Janata Dal (United) with the mending of ties between Kushwaha and Kumar.[6]

On 4 January 2013, Upendra Kushwaha who at the time was a Rajya Sabha member resigned from the Janata Dal (United). He alleged that the Nitish model had failed and that the law and order situation was becoming as bad as it had been 7 years ago. He further alleged that the Nitish Kumar runs his government through autocratic means and that he had turned the Janata Dal (United) into his "pocket organisation".[8] Kushwaha founded the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party on 3 March 2013 and unveiled the name and flag of his party at a rally at the historic Gandhi Maidan.[2] He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Narendra Modi. He was elected from the Karakat constituency and was appointed as Minister of State in Human Resource Development ministry.[9][10] In December 2018, he resigned from the ministry and left the NDA, accusing Modi of not fulfilling his poll promises regarding Bihar.[11]

Shri Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath as Minister of State to Shri Upendra Kushwaha, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi

Initially, Kushwaha gave a number of indications to NDA leadership regarding his discontent due to diminishing importance as an ally. Kushwaha's party RLSP finally broke out from NDA alliance as it was not given appropriate seats in Lok Sabha elections of 2019. The NDA leadership was skeptical of Kushwaha's influence on member of Koeri caste and believed that even without his support they could win the elections in Bihar. It is believed that Nitish Kumar too holds considerable hold on both koeri and kurmi community, as a counter to which BJP had earlier selected Keshav Prasad Maurya as its Uttar Pradesh chief. Hence, they were ready to face exodus of Kushwaha. Meanwhile they were sure of reaping the popularity of Nitish, who was now an ally of BJP and had gained considerable reputation in Bihar due to his development model.[12][13][14]

Kushwaha hence joined United Progressive Alliance front, which contained Rashtriya Janata Dal, Hindustani Awam Morcha, as well as Vikassheel Insaan Party.He contested 2019 Lok Sabha election from two seats namely Karakat as well as Ujiyarpur.[15] Kushwaha lost from both the seats.[16] The grand alliance of above mentioned parties under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav was not able to win even a single seat in Bihar in 2019 Lok Sabha election.[17]

Upendra Kushwaha and Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey and the Minister of State for Defence, Shri Subhash Ramrao Bhamre at the inauguration of the Festival-cum-Exhibition “Azadi 70 Saal - Yaad Karo Kurbani, Mera Desh Mera Gaurav”.

In the course of 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Upendra Kushwaha's speech sparked controversy when he referred to the newly formed alliance of his party and Rashtriya Janata Dal as 'Kheer'. According to political analysts, RLSP represents Kushwahas who are also called Koeris in Bihar while RJD represents Yadavs. The traditional occupation of these castes being growing paddy as well as cattle domestication. Hence, reference to Kheer was said to be the implicit indication to alliance of two influential backward castes.[12] After losing in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kushwaha once again made a controversial statement. He warned NDA leadership that if the result of elections is deteriorated, the blood will flow on streets. However, later on a notice from Election Commission, he clarified that his intention was not of provoking violence.[18]

gollark: I refuse to use pointers outside of `#define`s.
gollark: ++remind 1h """Clearly the best solution is TCMP and offloading to a computer."
gollark: Brain computer interfaces but only when lucid dreaming.
gollark: Huh, that could be an interesting story.
gollark: Clearly the best solution is TCMP and offloading to a computer.

References
  1. "Ghanshyam Tiwari Gets Election Ticket, SP Spokesperson Fielded in Big Contest Against RLSP Chief Upendra Kushwaha".
  2. Gupta, Surabhi, ed. (6 October 2015). "RLSP के संस्थापक और बिहार के काराकट से सांसद उपेंद्र कुशवाहा का राजनीतिक सफर". Aaj Tak (in Hindi). Retrieved 25 April 2020. Translation:Upendra Kushwaha founded the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party on 3 March 2013. He unveiled his party's name and flag with great effect from a historic rally at Gandhi Maidan. 3. On February 2014, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party joined the NDA (National Democratic Alliance). In the 2014 general election, RLSP contested three seats from Bihar Sitamarhi, Karakat and Jehanabad. RLSP, riding the Modi wave, won all three seats in this election........ He graduated from Science College, Patna and then did MA in Political Science from BR Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur. Kushwaha also worked as a lecturer in the politics department of Samata College.
  3. "RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha quits as Union Minister". Business Line. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. Lansford, Tom, ed. (2015). "India - National Democratic Alliance". Political Handbook of the World 2015. United States: CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-4833-7157-3.
  5. Oneindia.com"Upendra -kushwaha". 31 May 2020. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  6. Banerjee, Shoumojit (27 November 2009). "Rashtriya Samata Party merges with JD(U)". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020.
  7. Singh, Abhay (8 February 2009). "Upendra Kushwaha forms new political party". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020.
  8. "JD(U) MP Upendra Kushwaha resigns, attacks Nitish Kumar". The Economic Times. 4 January 2013. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020.
  9. "BJP ties up with OBC leader Upendra Kushwaha in Bihar".
  10. "BJP may bring in Kushwaha as OBC face".
  11. "Upendra Kushwaha resigns as Union minister, likely to quit NDA". The Economic Times. 10 December 2018.
  12. Ayushman, Kumar. "This 'kheer' cooking in Bihar may leave a bad taste in the BJP's mouth". theprint.in. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  13. KAUSHIKA, PRAGYA. "Upendra Kushwaha's exit could undo BJP's carefully planned Bihar caste coalition". theprint.in. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  14. Tewary, Ravish. "amit-shahs-choice-of-up-bjp-chief-to-dampen-nitish-kumars-pitch". economic times. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  15. "lok-sabha-polls-upendra-kushwaha-to-contest-from-two-seats". indianexpress. 10 July 2020.
  16. "'I Accept People's Verdict, Need For Introspection,' Says RLSP's Upendra Kushwaha". NDTV. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  17. Thakur, Rajesh Kumar (25 May 2019). "After humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha elections, blame game begins in Bihar's grand alliance". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  18. "upendra-kushwaha-clarifies-bloodshed-remark". timesofindia.com. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
Party political offices
Preceded by
 Leader of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party in the 16th Lok Sabha
2014–present		 Incumbent

Further reading
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