Rashtriya Lok Morcha Chief Upendra Kushwaha joins hands with party MLAs to express solidarity during a press conference at Hotel Maurya, in Patna on January 30, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Amid the buzz of split and growing rebellion in Upendra Kushwaha’s party, the Rajya Sabha MP and chief of Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) appointed Bihar MLA Alok Singh as the State president of the party on Friday (January 30, 2026). Mr. Singh is the party’s MLA from Dinara Assembly seat
Party sources said that the organisational changes have been made as damage control to keep the MLAs united and to calm their anger.
Earlier, RLM MLAs had indirectly expressed disappointment over Mr. Kushwaha choosing his son Deepak Prakash, who is not a member of either house of the State Legislature, to be the Panchayati Raj Minister in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet.
Further, two party leaders Prashant Pankaj and Subhash Chandravanshi have been appointed State working presidents of the party, Mr. Kushwaha announced at a press conference in Patna.
Along with them, Himanshu Patel has been appointed State General Secretary and former State working president Madan Choudhary has been appointed National Vice President of the party.
When asked about the split in the party, Mr. Kushwaha, accompanied by these leaders, denied and asserted that there is no dissatisfaction or split in the party. He maintained that it was only the media which had set the narrative. “I had already said that there was nothing as such, only you people were talking about it,” Mr. Kushwaha said.
Soon after, Mr. Kushwaha’s son was made the minister in November 2025, seven members of his RLM resigned, accusing the party’s chief of promoting dynastic politics.
Last month, three MLAs, Rameshwar Kumar Mahto, MLA from Bajpatti Assembly constituency, Mr. Singh and Madhubani MLA Madhaw Anand had skipped the dinner party organised by the party’s president in Patna, despite being in the town.
Mr. Kushwaha’s party had won four seats out of six it contested as part of the NDA alliance, including his wife Snehlata Kushwaha, won the recently concluded Bihar Assembly election from the Sasaram seat.
Asked about Mr. Mahto not being present in the press conference, Mr. Kushwaha was quick to respond that it was not a legislative party meeting of RLM. “Even my wife Snehlata is not present,” he said.
With Mr. Anand already serving as the leader of the RLM legislative party in the assembly, the decision clearly indicates an attempt to strike a leadership balance within the party by making Mr. Singh as State president who is a Rajput by caste.
Mr. Singh hails from Rohtas district under Shahabad region, and the party wants to strengthen its hold in this area by making caste balance of Kushwaha and Rajput.
In Shahabad region, Kushwaha and Rajput play significant roles in any election as their numbers are sizable. It was evident from the fact that the NDA lost all four Lok Sabha seats in the Shahabad region in 2024 which include Buxar, Karakat, Sasaram and Ara mainly due to a split in Rajput and Kushwaha votes.
The Kushwahas, the second-largest bloc among the Other Backward Classes (OBC) after Yadavs in Bihar, are at the centre in Shahabad after Rajputs.
Last month, all three disgruntled MLAs also held a closed-door meeting in New Delhi and there was murmuring of split in the party as they were mulling to leave Upendra Kushwaha to join another party.
Party sources said that Mr. Mahto is still upset with the Mr. Kushwaha but he does not have any other choice after three out of four decide to fall in line.
Published – January 31, 2026 11:32 am IST
