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Bihar: Another RLSP leader killed as party chief Upendra Kushwaha prepares to quit NDA

Amit Bhushan was alighting from the stage after the inauguration of a cultural programme in Patna’s Paliganj block on Wednesday evening when he was shot at from a close range

Bihar: Another RLSP leader killed as party chief Upendra Kushwaha prepares to quit NDA

Upendra Kushwaha with party workers and supporters after RLSP leader Amit Bhushan was murdered in Patna. (Photo: Twitter/@BiharRLSP)

As Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) president Upendra Kushwaha prepares to quit the NDA, criminals shot dead one of his close associates in Bihar on Tuesday night. This is fourth such killing of RLSP leaders in the last one year. The party has described it as a “political murder” and demanded a probe into the incident, asking whether this is the “sushasan” which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had promised to the people of Bihar.

Reports said the victim, identified as Amit Bhushan, was alighting from the stage soon after the inauguration of a cultural programme in Patna’s Paliganj block last evening when the criminals fired at him from a close range, wounding him critically. He was rushed to a local government hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

According to the doctors, the victim sustained four bullet injuries in the attack.  Witnesses said the killing took place right in front of the local Paliganj officer-in-charge who was present on the dais as the chief guest.

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Earlier the miscreants had killed three other RLSP leaders in Vaishali, Siwan and Patna districts, party spokesperson Jitendra Nath has alleged. The incident drew strong protests from the party as Kushwaha hit out against CM Nitish Kumar over the fast-deteriorating situation in the state.

READ | Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha meets Sharad Yadav amid speculation

“One incident after another, series of such incidents and then there has been selective killings. Still they call it ‘sushasan’ (good governance). Perhaps, they have changed the definition of good governance in Bihar,” alleged Kushwaha.

Further, he asked the chief minister to launch crackdown on the criminals. The fresh salvos on the chief minister come days after the ruling JD-U led by the chief minister went ahead to poach the two RLSP legislators.

One of the RLSP legislators is reported to have met a key aide of the chief minister at the latter’s residence early this week where he was reportedly promised a cabinet berth in lieu of quitting the party. Another RLSP legislator too is headed for the JD-U.

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