Upendra Kushwaha meets Sharad Yadav, fuels speculation over his next move

In a tweet, Kushwaha described the meeting as a courtesy call.

RLSP president and BJP ally Upendra Kushwaha met opposition leader Sharad Yadav Monday, fuelling speculation that he may switch camps over his differences with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the proposed seat-sharing arrangement among the saffron party's Bihar allies for the Lok Sabha polls.

Kushwaha, also a Union minister, met Yadav at the latter's residence and both the leaders were believed to discussed the current political situation, especially in Bihar, RLSP sources said.

In a tweet, Kushwaha described the meeting as a courtesy call.

He has often asserted that he would work to get Narendra Modi elected as prime minister for another term but his unease with Kumar and meetings with opposition leaders, including RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, have sparked speculation about his future course.

Yadav had snapped ties with Kumar after the JD(U) chief joined hands with the BJP last year, and he was working to rally the opposition against the saffron party.

Kushwaha has expressed reservations to the BJP president Amit Shah's proposal that both his party and Ram Vilas Paswan-led LJP contest fewer number of seats in 2019 than they did in 2014 so that Kumar's JD(U) could be allotted as many seats as the saffron party fights.

The RLSP, which had fought three seats in 2014 and won all, is unlikely to be spared more than two seats.

An old rival of Kumar, Kushwaha had also attacked the chief minister for allegedly insulting him and had targeted him again Sunday over reports that two MLAs of his party may join the JD(U).

He had said he would apprise Shah of the "humiliation" he had suffered at the hands of Kumar and also request him to clear the confusion over seat-sharing among the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents in the state at the earliest.

He also made a jibe at Kumar, saying the JD(U)president had an expertise in breaking parties but he would continue with his fight.

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Karnataka won't be divided during my or son's lifetime: Deve Gowda

Gowda's remarks came on a day the Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti, a committee fighting for a separate statehood to north Karnataka, called a day-long bandh in 13 districts.

Opposing any move to divide Karnataka, former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Thursday appealed to the people of north Karnataka not to get provoked by the BJP, and said the demand for a separate statehood for the region will not be met during his or his son and Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy's lifetime.

Gowda's remarks came on a day the Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti, a committee fighting for a separate statehood to north Karnataka, called a day-long bandh in 13 districts.

"No injustice has been meted out to north Karnataka in allotment of funds in the state budget," he said and hit out at BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa for trying to create unrest through "malicious propaganda".

"The provocation made by Yeddyurappa will not come true. We will take care of it... If some people demand a separate north Karnataka, I want to tell them it will not happen, not during my lifetime and not during my son's lifetime," he told PTI in an interview.

He alleged that the BJP state president is "provoking" people of north Karnataka, as his "anger has not cooled down" after failing to form the government despite winning substantial seats.

Gowda further alleged that the former chief minister has started "intimidating" people on the farm loan waiver, state budget and other issues, with the sole motive to create unrest.

The former prime minister said many leaders have made sacrifices for the unification of the state and appealed to people not fall prey to provocation and to "trust the current government".

Kumaraswamy has already ordered the shifting of some key government departments to the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, the secretariat building in Belagavi, Gowda added.

The Samiti gave the bandh call to press for statehood for the region, alleging that successive governments discriminated against it.

The Samiti leaders have also alleged discrimination in the allocation towards the region in the budget presented by Kumaraswamy on July 5 and also inadequate representation in the cabinet.

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